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Islamabad to mediate Kabul-Taliban talks

Other News Materials 15 October 2010 23:59 (UTC +04:00)
Pakistan says it is offering to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban militants in order to secure stability in the volatile region, Press TV reported.
Islamabad to mediate Kabul-Taliban talks

Pakistan says it is offering to facilitate peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban militants in order to secure stability in the volatile region, Press TV reported.

In a news conference in Brussels on Friday, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said it was in Islamabad's best interest to see Afghanistan turning into a peaceful and stable country.

"They have to own it, they have to lead it. We are there to help," The Telegraph quoted Qureshi as saying.

Kabul has yet to respond to Islamabad's offer.

The remarks come days after Pakistani prime minister said efforts by the Kabul government to make peace with the Taliban would fail without the assistance of Islamabad.

"Nothing can be done without us because we are part of the solution, we are not part of the problem," Pakistani Premier Yousuf Raza Gilani said in comments broadcast on Pakistani television on Tuesday.

These developments come as Afghanistan's new Peace Council has held initial talks with the Taliban.

The head of the council, Afghanistan's former President Burhanuddin Rabbani, says he is convinced that militants are ready to negotiate peace.

He says the Taliban have set some preconditions for the talks.

The militant group has always said that the withdrawal of foreign forces is a pre-requisite to any chance of lasting peace in the country.

The Taliban have stepped up their attacks across Afghanistan as the US-led foreign forces are expanding their operation there.

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