Afghan opposition team arrives for peace talks with Taliban
Thu 23 Apr 98 - 16:31 GMT
ISLAMABAD, April 23 (AFP) - A four-member Afhan opposition delegation flew into Islamabad late Thursday for peace talks with Taliban officials due to start this weekend, officials and witnesses said.
Arriving in a United Nations flight from northern Afghan city of Shiberghan, the delegation was met at Islamabad airport by officials of the UN special mission on Afghanistan and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
The northern alliance delegation included two members each from former president Burhanuddin Rabbani's Jamiat-i-Islami party and ethnic Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostam's Jumbish-i- Milli (National Islamic Movement), officials said.
Five others belonging to the opposition Shiite Moslem's Hezb-i-Wahdat, Harkat-i-Islami and the Eastern Shoora (council) are expected to join the anti-Taliban team later.
The nine northern alliance members and five Taliban representatives, who together make up a joint steering committee, are to open the dialogue under the auspices of the UN and OIC here on Saturday.
Officials from both sides have said their first face-to-face meeting would discuss a ceasefire, exchange of prisoners and lifting of curbs on the flow of humanitarian aid.
The steering committee is also expected to discuss formation of a commission of Ulema or group of religious scholars from the two sides to tackle political issues in accordance with the principles of Islamic Sharia law.
The warring factions agreed to start talks following the April 17 visit to Afghanistan by US presidential envoy Bill Richardson.
©AFP 1998
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