Afghanistan has appointed the son of slain statesman Burhanuddin Rabbani to replace his father and lead the country's High Peace Council charged with finding a political solution to the Afghan war.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday that Salahuddin Rabbani is the country's new top peace envoy. Rabbani is currently Afghanistan's ambassador to Turkey.

His father, who was also a former president of Afghanistan, was killed in September by an assassin who had a bomb hidden under his turban. The late president was spearheading peace efforts with the Taliban.