'Secret' Taliban talks under way

[IndianaGreen]

Source: Al Jazeera


Talks centre around the return to Afghanistan
of Gulbaldin Hekmatyar, the former prime minister

UPDATED ON:
Friday, February 27, 2009
01:11 Mecca time, 22:11 GMT

'Secret' Taliban talks under way

Western officials, the Afghan government and Taliban-linked mediators have been engaged in secret negotiations to bring elements of the group into Afghanistan's political process, Al Jazeera has learned.

The talks, which have been taking place in Dubai, London and Afghanistan since the beginning of the year, have proposed the return of Gulbaldin Hekmatyar, the former Afghan prime minister, who has been in hiding for seven years, to Afghanistan.

Hekmatyar is the leader of the Hezb-i-Islami forces, a faction of Afghanistan's Hezb-i-Islami party, and is purported to be in the northwest tribal region of Pakistan.

His forces fight alongside the Taliban and are considered a terrorist organisation by the United States forces in Afghanistan.

Asylum offer

According to information revealed to Al Jazeera, Hekmatyar would be offered asylum in Saudi Arabia, after which he would be allowed to return to Afghanistan with immunity from prosecution.



Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/02/2009226183226955390.html

---

The US had a bounty on Hekmatyar's head a few years back. I don't think that has changed. Who is next? Mullah Omar?

[sutz12]

1. I guess they aren't all that secret...

:shrug:

[11cents]

2. Hekmatyar's entry-level position...

...involved throwing acid in the faces of young women who had the temerity to attend Kabul University.

Lovely guy.

[IndianaGreen]

3. Sadly, Afghanistan is full of people like him

The only chance women had for equal rights in Afghanistan was when the Marxists were in power.

[acmavm]

4. Another sign of how well our 'war' on terra in Afganistan is going. We are

now bringing back the bad guys and playing Let's Make a Deal.

[ohio2007]

5. Sounds like the Pak govt model for peace

have some cash, even if you decide not to disarm.