The FINANCIAL — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has confirmed that talks with the Taliban have been going on for “quite some time” to end the fighting in the war-ravaged Central Asian state, RIA Novosti informs.
“We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman," Karzai told CNN.
"Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time," he went on in an interview to air in full later on October 11.
Karzai’s admission came after former Afghan leader Burhanuddin Rabbani was appointed head of a new peace council for discussions with militant groups on October 10.
But Karzai was adamant Afghanistan would not speak to al-Qaeda or other "terrorist networks".
"Whether they are against Afghanistan or whether they are Al-Qaeda and the terrorist war against the United States or our neighbours in Pakistan, those of course cannot be accepted,” he said.
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