Taliban put their case at Jeddah talks

JEDDAH March 7: Representatives of Afghanistan's Taliban regime held peace talks with the ousted government here on Tuesday hosted by the Organization of the Islamic Conference, an OIC official told AFP.

"The Taliban delegation presented its point of view on the peace negotiations," the official said. The OIC's political affairs spokesman Ibrahim Bakr, quoted by the official SPA agency said: "The Taliban delegation showed itself totally disposed to listen and to reach an settlement acceptable to all sides."

He added: "I want to see the sides ready to bring their points of view together so they can stay at the negotiating table."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also attended the talks, and United Nations envoy to Afghanistan Francesc Vendrell was to hold separate talks with Zarif, whose country currently holds the chair of the OIC.

Zarif told SPA: "We had a frank exchange of views with the Taliban and we will have talks with the opposition coalition on Wednesday."

Talks at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah with the opposition were postponed from Tuesday afternoon because the arrival of chief opposition representative Nassir Ahmad was delayed until Tuesday evening.

Mulla Amir Khan Mutaqui, head of the Taliban executive affairs department, who is leading the militia's delegation, said: "We have no conditions to impose except the establishment of the sharia (Islamic) law in Afghanistan."

Representatives from Pakistan, Guinea and Tunisia, who sit on the OIC ad hoc committee on Afghanistan, are also taking part in the meetings.

The OIC, which hopes the warring parties will eventually sit down at the same table, is seeking a formula to restore peace to Afghanistan.

Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel on Sunday voiced support for the OIC initiative and a negotiated settlement, but hit out at the United Nations for failing to bring peace and to halt foreign interference.

The Taliban militia controls 80 percent of Afghanistan but its administration is recognized by just three governments - Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.-AFP