Taliban and US Get Down to Talks

[Nancy Waterman]

Source: Asian Times

Holy cow!! Look what I found in the Asian Times that is no where in the US media:

United States President Barack Obama has pledged to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July 2011, and as a part of the initial outlines of this exit strategy the Taliban are for the first time in serious negotiations with the US.

The Pakistan military and Saudi Arabia are acting as go-betweens to facilitate the talks, a top Pakistani security official directly involved in the negotiation process has told Asia Times Online. According to the official, the Pakistan army has already been in contact with top Taliban commanders, including Sirajuddin Haqqani. Information is then passed onto the Saudis, who in turn liaise with the Americans.

snip

Another element touched on in the talks is the American demand that it maintain a military presence in northern Afghanistan, while agreeing to give control of the south to the Taliban. The Taliban do not agree with this - they want a complete US withdrawal. This remains a point of major disagreement.

A key problem remains al-Qaeda - the US has no interest in any deals with the group and wants to specifically separate the Taliban from al-Qaeda.



Read more: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/LI11Df04.html

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I don't see this anywhere else. You would think it would be important enough to write about!!!