Afghan Aides Ask U.S. Asylum

UNITED NATIONS — Two Afghan officials, including that nation’s deputy foreign minister, have defected and asked for political asylum in the United States, an American diplomat said today.

The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the two men accompanied Afghan Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Sharq during his visit to New York earlier this month. The diplomat said Deputy Foreign Minister Abdul Ghaffar Lakanwal defected along with a diplomat identified only as Kamaluddin. A spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, Fred Negem, said the “matter is delicate” and refused to comment.