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| Afghanistan | |
| Afghanistan: Taliban rejects reports of imminent peace deal | |
| 2008-09-30 | |
| (AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - International efforts to strike a peace deal with the Taliban collapsed late Sunday when militant leaders rejected any attempt to engage in negotiations. The Taliban emphatically denied a British media report that suggested that its leadership was engaged in talks with the Afghan government to end the war and reiterated their determination to rid the country of all foreign troops. The British weekly, The Observer, said on Sunday that the Taliban had been engaged in secret talks about ending the conflict in Afghanistan in a 'peace process' sponsored by Saudi Arabia and backed by Britain.
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta had previously announced at a media conference that there would be "good news" in a few days regarding a deal with Taliban leaders. But the statement issued by the Taliban from Kabul in Pashto and later in English on Monday categorically denied any such negotiations. It rejected claims that that there were "unprecedented talks" involving a senior ex-Taliban member who is travelling between Kabul and the alleged bases of the Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan. "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan rejects all these false claims by the enemy who is using this propaganda campaign," the statement said. "The aim of this propaganda is to create an atmosphere of disunity among Muslims in order to weaken the Ummah (Muslim faithful). Our struggle will be continued until the departure of all foreign troops." The statement was signed by the pseudonym of 'Dr Talib' on behalf of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan. It also said that former members of the Taliban who had surrendered or were under surveillance were not associated with their organisation. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Gee, they've been working with the Saudis for the past two years, and it sure hasn't seemed to help much. I wonder why that is: http://www.asecondlookatthesaudis.com At least they're going to the right place. |
| Posted by: Bill in Chicago 2008-09-30 20:35 |