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 Sources in the Afghan Taliban said their negotiators would hold a
first round of talks with U.S. officials in Qatar on Thursday,
although no comment was immediately available from U.S. or Qatari
officials.
Previous efforts to negotiate an end to a war that began in late
2001 have proved fruitless, but the latest signals raised hopes of a
much-needed boost for new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
"The first session will take place today in Qatar and then there
would be another session on Friday. Let us see what happens as talks
before did not yield any results," a senior member of the Afghan
Taliban said by telephone from Qatar.
Bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table would be a major
breakthrough in Afghan efforts to end more than a decade of war
following the withdrawal of most U.S.-led troops last year.
Earlier on Thursday, a senior Pakistani military official said
Pakistan's army chief, General Raheel Sharif, told Ghani during a
visit this week that the Taliban were willing to begin negotiations
as early as March.
"They have expressed their willingness and there will be progress in
March. But these things are not so quick and easy," the official,
who is close to the army chief, told Reuters on condition of
anonymity.
 "But there are very clear signals ... and we have communicated it to
the Afghans. Now many things are with the Afghans and they are
serious," the official said.
The official said, however, there was no firm timetable for talks.
Other Taliban representatives had earlier denied they were willing
to hold direct negotiations.
Three senior diplomats in the region confirmed the account of
imminent talks based on briefings from people who were at the
Tuesday meeting between Ghani and Sharif.
"The venue is still to be decided. Preferably Islamabad, Kabul,
Beijing or Dubai," said one diplomat in Kabul. He and other
diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity
of the issue.
Ghani's office did not directly refer to any talks in a statement it
issued but promised transparency.
"I will not conduct any negotiation in secret from my people and
they will be informed of any development,” he was quoted as saying.
Attempts to get talks going in Qatar in 2013 came to nothing after
the Afghan government objected to fanfare surrounding the opening of
a Taliban office in the Gulf state, complete with flag and official
plaques.
BETTER TIES
Exactly what pushed some Taliban towards talks was not clear, but
the Afghan war is grinding on with no clear winner.
With the departure of most U.S. and other foreign troops at the end
of last year, Afghan security forces are struggling to defeat the
insurgency, while the Taliban have been unable to hold much
territory.
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The Taliban are also is facing a loss of support within Pakistan,
which has developed closer relations with Afghanistan since Ghani
took power late last year.
Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan, which has for years been
close to the Taliban as Pakistan fretted over the influence of its
rival, India, in Afghanistan, have long been marred by mistrust but
Ghani has sought to improve ties.
Pakistani Senator Afrasiab Khattak, who comes from Pakistan's Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa province on the Afghan border, said Ghani's efforts led
to a commitment by Pakistan to encourage the Taliban to talk -
possibly through threatening to end their use of Pakistani soil as a
refuge.
"Without sanctuaries, nobody can have sustainable fighting. Those
who will talk, will talk. Those who do not agree can face
co-ordinated action on both sides of the border," Khattak said.
Pakistan, for its part, is pushing for the Taliban to agree to talk
in exchange for an Afghan promise to capture and hand over the
leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, who is believed
to be hiding in Afghanistan.
The Pakistani Taliban are separate from the Afghan Taliban although
they share the goal of establishing an Islamist theocracy.
The Kabul diplomat warned that any talks might hinge on the
Taliban's reclusive leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, who has not been
seen in public since 2001.
"The final decision is still upon Mullah Omar, according to
(Pakistani army chief) Raheel. The Taliban leadership is consulting
him," the diplomat said.
However, even if talks begin, it is unclear whether all insurgent
commanders will want to end the fighting.
The militants have split into factions since their regime was ousted
by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, as part of a U.S. effort to
hunt down al Qaeda leaders behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United
States.
(Additional reporting by Hamid Shalizi and Jessica Donati in KABUL
and Katharine Houreld and Maria Golovnina in ISLAMABAD; Editing by
Robert Birsel)
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