Taliban,Afghan govt hold talks in Maldives

We know something is going on in Maldives,but we are not informed of the details nor are we involved in the process, Waheed Omar said. We do not have any representation and we do not think it will be very helpful for the peace process of Afghanistan. Another Afghan official said the meeting was between the leadership of Hizb-i-Islami,an insurgent group led by former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

In March,a delegation of Hizb-i-Islami met Karzai in Kabul,in their first public face-to-face talks. They reached no final deal but pledging to continue a dialogue that if successful could help forge a rift in the Afghan insurgency.

A Hizb-i-Islami leader,however,described the Maldives talks as involving former Taliban. Officially,Hizb-i-Islami is not involved in this,but we have unofficial representatives there, said Qaribul Rahman Sayad said by phone from Belgium. Representatives of Hizb-i-Islami also gathered in the Maldives for talks in January.