Any truth to this?
| None whatsoever, as far as I know. Even if Afghanistan was in worse shape than it is, it wouldn't make any sense. For one thing, it would be political suicide for the entire Bush team. |
Such is the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan, compounded by the return to the country of a large number of former Afghan communist refugees, that United States and Pakistani intelligence officials have met with Taliban leaders in an effort to devise a political solution to prevent the country from being further ripped apart.
According to a Pakistani jihadi leader who played a role in setting up the communication, the meeting took place recently between representatives of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Taliban leaders at the Pakistan Air Force base of Samungli, near Quetta. The source told Asia Times Online that four conditions were put to the Taliban before any form of reconciliation can take place that could potentially lead to them having a role in the Kabul government, whose present authority is in essence limited to the capital:- Mullah Omar must be removed as supreme leader of the Taliban.
- All Pakistani, Arab and other foreign fighters currently engaged in operations against international troops in Afghanistan must be thrown out of the country.
- Any US or allied soldiers held captive must be released.
- Afghans currently living abroad, notably in the United States and England, must be given a part in the government — through being allowed to contest elections — even though many do not even speak their mother tongue, such as Dari or Pashtu.
Apparently, the Taliban refused the first condition point blank, but showed some flexibility on the other terms. As such, this first preliminary contact made little headway. It is not known whether there will be further meetings, but given the fact that the reason for staging the talks in the first place remains unchanged, more contact can be expected.
| This isn't the first time this story's been told — in fact, when I read the original article I had to check the date. I can't find it on Rantburg, so I may not have used it because it's so unlikely. The unnamed jihadi source is no source at all — not even an organization. The reference to the U.S. prisoners held by the Talibs echos a story Hamid Gul was pushing subsequent to Operation Anaconda, last year. They mention in passing that we haven't been able to track down Hafiz Rahim, who was reported killed last week. Asia Times often has some good, informed stories. They also carry stuff like this and most of the things Pepe Escobar writes, which makes DEBKA more reliable. |
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