Secret talks aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan have
begun between representatives of the Taliban and the government of Afghan
President Hamid Karzai, The Washington Post reported on its website Tuesday
night.
Afghan and Arab sources cited by the Post said they believe
for the first time that Taliban representatives are fully authorized to speak
for the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban organization based in Pakistan, and
its leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, according to the newspaper. The sources
requested anonymity to discuss the development.
Omar's representatives have shunned negotiations in the
past, insisting that all foreign troops withdraw first. However, the Post
reported that its sources said the Quetta Shura has begun to talk about a
comprehensive agreement that would include participation of some Taliban
figures in the government and the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops.
Karzai long has said he will talk to insurgents if they
renounce violence, sever ties to terrorists and embrace the Afghan
constitution.
The Post reported that the half-dozen sources directly
involved in or on the margins of the talks emphasized that they were
preliminary in nature, even as the sources differed on how specific the talks
have been. All expressed concern that any public description of the meetings
would undercut them.
The top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, said
last week that Taliban leaders have made overtures to reconcile with the Afghan
government.
"There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have
sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government and indeed
have done that," Petraeus told reporters in Afghanistan.
Reconciling with Taliban leaders is being "pursued by
the Afghan leadership at the very highest levels," Petraeus said.
The Afghan government last week also set up a 70-member
peace council, formalizing efforts to reconcile with Taliban leaders and lure
insurgent foot soldiers off the battlefield.
Waheed Omar, a spokesman for Karzai, denied that President
Barack Obama's stated goal of beginning to withdraw U.S. forces from
Afghanistan in July 2011, if conditions allow, spurred the Afghan government to
set up the council or reach out to the Taliban.
