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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Former Taliban say talks with Afghan government successful |
| 2005-02-21 |
| Four former Taliban officials, led by a former U.N. envoy, said on Sunday they had had successful reconciliation talks with the U.S.-back Afghan government. The Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press news agency said the former Taliban officials returned to Pakistan on Saturday after a two-week visit to Kabul during which they met President Hamid Karzai. The agency quoted their leader, Abdul Hakim Mujahid, the former Taliban ambassador to the United Nations, as saying the talks aimed at "national unity, understanding and peace" had been successful. "We have reached an understanding," he said, without elaborating. Khaliq Ahmad, a spokesman for Karzai, confirmed talks had taken place. "The reconciliation process is going on well and progress is being made," he said, but declined to give details. Mujahid stressed his group had not represented the Taliban but Khudam-ul Furqan (Servants of the Koran), a group some moderate Taliban members joined after the overthrow of the fundamentalists by U.S.-led forces in late 2001. Mujahid said talks with the Afghan government had been going on for the past two years and as well as meeting Karzai, the delegation met other Afghan leaders and elders. The other members of the delegation were Arsullah Rahmani, a former deputy minister of higher education, Rahmatullah Wahidyar, former deputy minister for refugees, and Habibullah Fawzi, former charge d'affaires at the Afghan embassy in Saudi Arabia. A year ago, Karzai said he was considering talks with a former Taliban foreign minister, Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, in a bid to woo moderate Taliban supporters, but no details have emerged of any such meeting. Last week, U.S. ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said some senior Taliban members had taken up a government amnesty offer and Wednesday's Washington Post quoted a Western official as identifying them as the group led by Mujahid. None of Mujahid's group is known as a senior figure in the Taliban guerrilla campaign waged since 2001 against the government and a now 18,000-strong U.S.-led foreign force. The Post also said 22 low-level Taliban members had agreed to lay down their arms in response to the amnesty offer made last year to Taliban figures not among the up to 150 blamed for atrocities during the group's rule, or linked with al Qaeda. Taliban guerrilla officials have dismissed talk of reconciliation and have vowed to continue their jihad, or holy war, again Karzai's government and foreign forces. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |