Taliban says 'ready for talks' with Afghan govt |
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Mon, 10 Sep 2007 10:08
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KANDAHAR (Thomson Financial) - The Taliban said it was ready for talks with the Afghan government, one day after President Hamid Karzai offered negotiations in a bid to end a bloody insurgency.'For the sake of national interests ... we are fully ready for talks with the government,' senior Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP.The spokesman said the Taliban could hold talks with the Afghan government as it did with South Korean officials over 21 hostages who were freed after several meetings.'As we did hold negotiations with the South Korean government, we can hold talks at an even higher level with the government,' he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.Karzai has regularly offered talks with the Taliban, which was in government between 1996 and 2001, and there have been rumours that contact has already been made.The president denied 'formal negotiations' were under way with the militants but said he was ready to start such dialogue if he could find the 'address for the Taliban.'tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.comafp/raCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
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