1. Taliban, US negotiators meet in Qatar: official Page 1 of 2
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Taliban, US negotiators meet in Qatar: official
Monday, January 30, 2012
By Sardar Ahmad, AFP
KABUL -- Taliban negotiators have begun holding preliminary talks with U.S. officials in
Qatar on plans for peace negotiations aimed at ending the decade-long war in
Afghanistan, a former Taliban official said Sunday.
“The actual peace talks have not yet begun — they are in the process of trust-building and
obviously this will take some time,” Mawlavi Qalamuddin told AFP.
Qalamuddin, who once led the Taliban's feared religious police when the hardline
Islamists were in power, is now a member of the High Peace Council appointed by the
government of President Hamid Karzai.
The Taliban, ousted from power by a U.S.-led invasion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks,
announced earlier this month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead
of talks with Washington.
Qalamuddin said the delegation already in the Gulf state included Mohammad Tayeb
Agha, a close ally and secretary of Taliban leader Mullah Omar, and Shahabuddin
Delawar, the Taliban's former ambassador to Riyadh.
With them were Sher Mohammad Abaas Stanikzai, former deputy foreign minister in the
Taliban government, and Aziz-Ul Rahman, a former Taliban diplomat in Dubai, said
Qalamuddin.
“At the moment the delegation is holding preliminary talks. It's in its very early phases. You
need to build some trust before starting talks.”
One of the trust-building measures demanded by the Taliban is the release of five of its
members from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, while Washington wants the insurgents to
renounce violence.
Qalamuddin said the Taliban delegation “obviously” went to Qatar from Pakistan,
indicating that Afghanistan's southern neighbor — accused by Kabul of blocking past
attempts at peace talks — could be getting on board.
Another sign of a thaw between the two countries came with the announcement Sunday
that Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar will visit Kabul on Wednesday.
Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said the visit would mark a “new
phase” in cooperation between the two countries, adding that Khar would hold talks with
Afghan Foreign Minister Zulmai Rasoul and President Hamid Karzai.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/330052.htm 6/6/2012

2. Taliban, US negotiators meet in Qatar: official Page 2 of 2
“Both sides will discuss the fight against terrorism and Pakistan's essential support to the
peace process in Afghanistan.
“Pakistan plays a key role in Afghan peace process and Afghanistan need a sincere effort
of our neighboring country toward peace negotiations,” Mosazai said.
Khar's visit comes after Pakistan made overtures to Afghanistan to resume talks over the
Taliban which broke down following the assassination of Kabul's chief peace envoy,
Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September, officials said.
Karzai accused Pakistan of responsibility for the murder and last month said Islamabad
was sabotaging all attempts at negotiations with the Taliban.
The president was initially wary of being sidelined in the Qatar talks, and Washington
dispatched special envoy Marc Grossman to Kabul last week to assure him of a central
role for his government in any major negotiations.
In another effort to soothe Karzai's doubts, a delegation from the Qatar government is
expected to visit Kabul to explain its role in the talks, High Peace Council secretary
Aminundin Muzaffari told AFP.
“We are expecting a delegation from Qatar to come to Kabul to discuss with us the role of
Afghans in peace talks and when and how peace talks in Qatar should happen and
proceed.”
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/print/330052.htm 6/6/2012