Four top officials of a powerful Islamic group have visited Kabul for secret talks on abandoning their party’s attempts to topple the Afghan government, security sources said on Monday. Members of the Hezb-i-Islami group of former leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar came to negotiate the reintegration into the mainstream politics, a source close to President Hamid Karzai told AFP. A senior Afghan security official confirmed the visit by the four including religious leader Mullah Sharaf Naz and commander Khalid Farooqi. The group, one of the main mujahideen groups that fought the 1979 Soviet war, is said to be trying to overthrow Mr Karzai’s government and it denounces the presence of foreigners in Afghanistan. The four said they had split with Mr Hekmatyar, approved of a new draft constitution to be debated and ratified next month and wished to reintegrate into Afghan political life. Presidential staff took care of the four, who held discussions with government officials and met British and US diplomats, a Western diplomatic source said.
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