World powers supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai's plan to woo moderate Taliban fighters who disarm, as it emerged that senior figures in the Islamist militia held secret talks with UN officials.
While leaders meeting in London to discuss the war-shattered country agreed to back a multimillion-dollar fund for militants who lay down their arms, a UN official said UN envoy Kai Eide had met Taliban members in Dubai this month.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say which Taliban members were at the meeting, but said they were "active members of the insurgency" and that the meeting was held at the militants' request.
"The Taliban had made overtures to the Special Representative to talk about peace talks," the official said.
"That information was shared with the Afghan government and the UN hopes that the Afghan government will capitalise on this opportunity."
Eide, who will step down as UN envoy in March, was a key delegate at the London conference, at which around 70 nations including Afghanistan, the United States and Britain held seven hours of talks amid tight security on Thursday.
Discussions focused on how to stabilise Afghanistan and bolster Karzai, who was re-elected in November in polls tainted by corruption, as well as on reconciliation with militants willing to stop fighting his government.
The conference was earlier dismissed as propaganda by the Taliban, whom Karzai had invited to join peace talks.
An internationally backed fund believed to be worth 500 million dollars formed the main plank of Karzai's proposals at the conference.
Karzai told the forum Afghanistan and its Western supporters must "reach out to all of our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers who are not part of Al-Qaeda".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said 140 million dollars had been pledged for the first year of the fund.
Source : http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iW5HDRZC54gXwhpkWkZypWtZiE4A
While leaders meeting in London to discuss the war-shattered country agreed to back a multimillion-dollar fund for militants who lay down their arms, a UN official said UN envoy Kai Eide had met Taliban members in Dubai this month.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not say which Taliban members were at the meeting, but said they were "active members of the insurgency" and that the meeting was held at the militants' request.
"The Taliban had made overtures to the Special Representative to talk about peace talks," the official said.
"That information was shared with the Afghan government and the UN hopes that the Afghan government will capitalise on this opportunity."
Eide, who will step down as UN envoy in March, was a key delegate at the London conference, at which around 70 nations including Afghanistan, the United States and Britain held seven hours of talks amid tight security on Thursday.
Discussions focused on how to stabilise Afghanistan and bolster Karzai, who was re-elected in November in polls tainted by corruption, as well as on reconciliation with militants willing to stop fighting his government.
The conference was earlier dismissed as propaganda by the Taliban, whom Karzai had invited to join peace talks.
An internationally backed fund believed to be worth 500 million dollars formed the main plank of Karzai's proposals at the conference.
Karzai told the forum Afghanistan and its Western supporters must "reach out to all of our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers who are not part of Al-Qaeda".
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said 140 million dollars had been pledged for the first year of the fund.
Source : http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iW5HDRZC54gXwhpkWkZypWtZiE4A
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