Thursday, August 11, 2011

'SECRET' NEGOTIATIONS WITH TERRORISTS BREAK OFF


Secret peace talks between US and Taliban collapse over leaks

Secret exploratory peace talks between the United States and the Taliban leadership have broken down after details of the negotiations were leaked, Western diplomats have told The Daily Telegraph.

Tayyab Agha
Washington Post and Der Spiegel news magazine named Tayeb Agha as the key Taliban negotiator Photo: EPA
The breakdown in the talks at such an early stage has led to recriminations and claims that the details of the meetings and the identity of the Taliban's chief negotiator were deliberately leaked by 'paranoid' Afghan government figures.
Absolute confidentiality had been a key condition for the meetings which were held in Germany and Qatar earlier this year between Tayeb Agha, Taliban leader Mullah Omar's former private secretary, and senior officials from the US State Department and Central Intelligence Agency. The meetings were chaired by Michael Steiner, Germany's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

read the rest of this article here


A few questions came to mind when I saw this headline:
1) WHY are we having "secret" talks or Any talks with the Taliban?
2) WHAT good are these talks and what will we gain from them?
3) Is this what candidate Obama meant when he said "he would sit at the table and negotiate" with people like Iran, North Korea, etc...? (that's a paraphrase..don't remember his exact wording..my apologies.) ~ Mellie

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