‘US,Taliban talks in Qatar at early stage’

The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had travelled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group. The comments suggested that the Taliban,who have not publicly said they would engage in peace talks to end the war in Afghanistan,were gearing up for preliminary discussions.

US officials would not deny that meetings had taken place,and the discussions seemed to have at least the tacit approval of Pakistan,which has thwarted previous efforts by the Taliban to engage in talks. The Afghan government,which was initially angry that it had been left out,has accepted the talks in principle but is not directly involved,a potential snag in what could be a historic development.

The former Taliban officials,interviewed Saturday in Kabul,were careful not to call the discussions peace talks. “Currently there are no peace talks going on,” said Maulavi Qalamuddin,the former minister of vice and virtue for the Taliban who is now a member of the High Peace Council here. “The only thing is the negotiations over release of Taliban prisoners from Guantánamo,which is still under discussion between both sides in Qatar. We also want to strengthen the talks so we can create an environment of trust for further talks in the future.”

The State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland has said only that Marc Grossman,the Obama administration’s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan,had “a number of meetings” related to Afghanistan when he visited Qatar last week.

The Taliban’s announcement this month that they would open an office in Qatar,which could allow for direct negotiations,drew fire from some Afghan factions as well as some US policy makers,who fear the insurgents would use negotiations as a ploy to gain legitimacy and then continue their efforts to reimpose an extremist Islamic state in Afghanistan.