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| Afghanistan |
| Secret meetings expose obstacles to Afghan peace talks |
| 2015-03-13 |
| [DAWN] Days after word leaked that the Afghan Taliban had signalled willingness to enter into talks to end Afghanistan's long war, senior representatives of the Lion of Islam group visited Islamabad for secret discussions on the next step forward. They left with a blunt message from Pakistain: the Taliban must end a rift between two top leaders, or talks might never get off the ground. The warning was a reminder of how tough it will be to get The two senior Taliban figures in question are political leader Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, who favours negotiation, and battlefield commander Abdul Qayum Zakir, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, who opposes talks with Kabul. Mansour and Zakir, long-time rivals, met recently to resolve their personal differences, slaughtering sheep for a feast to mark the occasion, according to two Taliban sources. But Mansour was unable to persuade Zakir to reverse his opposition to direct talks with Kabul, which he sees as "wasting time" because the United States holds real power in Afghanistan, the sources added. |
| Posted by:Fred |