Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, chief of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan

NEW YORK: The United Nations representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, met active members of the Taliban insurgency in Dubai this month for “talks about talks”, a UN official told AFP Thursday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, could not say which members of the Taliban were at the meeting but said they were “active members of the insurgency”.

The meeting was held at the militants’ request, the official said.

“The Taliban had made overtures to the Special Representative to talk about peace talks,” the official said.

“That information was shared with the Afghan government and the UN hopes that the Afghan government will capitalise on this opportunity.”

Asked about the outcome of the meeting, the official said: “It wasn’t a meeting to make decisions.

“It was an approach made by the Taliban to the United Nations about the possibility of beginning peace talks with the Afghan government.”

Eide’s spokesman Aleem Siddique, when asked to comment, said: “The Special Representative has never commented on whether he has had any contact with the Taliban in the past and he is not about to start commenting now. Any peace talks must be led by the Afghan government.”

Eide, who will step down as UN envoy in March, was a key delegate at talks in London Thursday that focused on reconciliation with militants willing to stop fighting the government.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has been lobbying support for the initiative, which builds on a process he started years ago.

The meeting voiced support for the effort while Japan and Germany pledged money to a fund to encourage moderate militants to lay down their arms.

Karzai also announced a peace “jirga” to which his office said the Taliban would be invited.

The president has stressed however that talks would only be held with Afghans who support the constitution drawn up after the fall of the Taliban regime in late 2001.

The government would not talk to Al-Qaeda, he added.