The latest attempt by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to mediate in the civil war in Afghanistan continues today on Wednesday in the Saudi city of Jeddah.

OIC officials will be seeing representatives of the opposition Northern Alliance, and have another session with the governing Taleban delegation - but have so far failed to get the two sides to meet face-to-face.

Iran's deputy foreign minister, Javad Zarif, said there was still a wide gap between the Taleban and its opponents.

But he said that the Taleban's desire for a peaceful solution was a ray of hope.

The United Nations special envoy, Francesc Vendrell is due to join the talks during the day.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service