Revealed: Secret Taliban Peace Bid -- The GuardianSaudis are sponsoring a peace dialogue involving a former senior member of the hardline group
The Taliban have been engaged in secret talks about ending the conflict in Afghanistan in a wide-ranging 'peace process' sponsored by Saudi Arabia and supported by Britain, The Observer can reveal.
The unprecedented negotiations involve a senior former member of the hardline Islamist movement travelling between Kabul, the bases of the Taliban senior leadership in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and European capitals. Britain has provided logistic and diplomatic support for the talks - despite official statements that negotiations can be held only with Taliban who are ready to renounce, or have renounced, violence.
Sources in Afghanistan confirmed the controversial talks, though they said that in recent weeks they had 'lost momentum'. According to Afghan government officials in Kabul, the intensity of the fighting this summer has been one factor. Another is the inconsistency of the Taliban's demands.
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My Comment: Skepticism is an emotion that overwhelms me when I read a news report describing how the Taliban are looking for a way to reach a peace agreement. Throughout their brief history, accommodation and compromise are two words that they have expunged from their vocabulary. They will only accommodate a situation that ensures that they will run the government and its institutions, and as a bonus they will only accept a strict interpretation of sharia law that brought about this disaster to begin with.
As to trying to split Osama Bin Laden from the Taliban ..... this is non-starter if I ever read one.