Afghans rivals to hold direct talks after Haj

ISLAMABAD (NNI): A senior official of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Ibrahim Bakar Tuesday hinted at possibilities of direct talks between the Afghan warring factions after Haj if the ongoing Jeddah peace moot on Afghanistan makes progress.

Bakar said that the rival Afghans factions would not hold face to face talks in Jeddah. He said that if the OIC sponsored talks make some progress, high powered delegations of both the sides would be invited for direct talks after Haj. The UN special envoy on Afghanistan, Francese Vendrell is also attending Jeddah talks. Besides, the Iranian Deputy Foreign Minsiter Javed Zarif whose country is leading the OIC would be present the parleys.

Another important participant of the negotiations is Pakistan which is being represented by a senior official of the Foreign Ministry, Ayaz Wazir. The OIC committee has recently visited Afghanistan and met the Taliban and anti-Taliban Northern Alliance.

However, there seems no sign of peace efforts inside Afghanistan where the opponents of the Taliban say that they have recaptured Sher Khan Bandar and Imam Saheb, the main supply routes from the Taliban have admitted that they have lost the two towns.