...Arabic for
students...
and Afghan politicians opposed to President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..are set to meet in Russia this week, as the United States says it's making "significant progress" in its negotiations with the group.
The Taliban confirmed on Sunday, it will send a delegation to Russia for a two-day meeting starting on Tuesday in Moscow.
The Taliban refuses to recognise Ghani's government, calling it a "puppet" of the US.
Ghani has repeatedly called on the Taliban to begin talks with his government.
He was excluded from six days of discussions between the gang and the US in Doha last month that reportedly sealed the outline of a peace deal.
"I call on the Taliban to... show their Afghan will, and accept Afghans' demand for peace, and enter serious talks with the Afghan government," Ghani said in a televised address from the presidential palace in Kabul last week.