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Taliban Announces Surprise Talks In Islamabad 

Source: Washington Post

February 14 2019

Pakistan

The Taliban says it will send a delegation to meet with U.S. and Pakistani officials in Islamabad next week, reports the Washington Post

A spokesman for the militant movement said on Wednesday that it had received a formal invitation from Pakistan to hold talks there, reported the Press Trust of India. 

The meeting on Feb. 18 would include U.S. special representative Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators, reported the Express Tribune (Pakistan). The Taliban officials would also meet with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in the first such talks since 2001. 

The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad said it was aware of the announcement but had not received an invitation to participate in talks. 

The Pakistani Foreign Ministry declined to comment. 

There were conflicting reports about how the meeting came about. Some indicated that the U.S. was behind it as part of efforts to get Islamabad to pressure the Taliban to meet with representatives of the Afghan government. Others said that Taliban officials saw it as an indication that Pakistan recognized them as the "true representatives" of Afghanistan. 

The move could also be an attempt to negotiate the release of Anas Haqqani, a militant detained in Afghanistan since 2014. Haqqani was recently named as a member of the Taliban's negotiating committee.  

If the talks take place, they could represent another blow to Kabul's goal to meet with the militant group. The Taliban has so far refused to meet with Afghan government authorities.

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