Taliban deny attending peace talks

Statement says those meeting with Afghan government in Maldives are no longer active members and have "surrendered"

Published May 21, 2010 6:51PM (EDT)

The Taliban say they are not attending peace talks with the Afghan government in the Maldives.

Maldives spokesman Mohamed Zuhair said Thursday that representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban members were meeting in the island nation this wek to discuss an end to the nearly nine-year war.

A Taliban statement e-mailed to reporters Friday said those at the talks claiming to be from the Taliban are no longer active members and have "surrendered" to President Hamid Karzai's government.

The talks were organized by Hizb-i-Islami, a Taliban-allied insurgent group which began negotiations with the government last March. The government says it has no representative at the talks either although lawmakers are attending unofficially.


By Associated Press

MORE FROM Associated Press


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Afghanistan Taliban