Taliban to take part in 'intra-Afghan' talks in Moscow

The Taliban said Monday they will participate in what they call "intra-Afghan" talks in Moscow designed to bring together prominent Afghan figures, including former President Hamid Karzai, opposition figures and tribal elders but no Kabul government officials.

The two-day meeting in the Russian capital, which starts Tuesday, is seen as another step in a process aimed at resolving Afghanistan's 17-year war, a process that has accelerated since the appointment last September of US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad.

Khalilzad has been holding separate negotiations with the Taliban even as he presses for a dialogue that would bring together all key Afghan players.

However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office criticized the meeting in Moscow, saying that Afghan politicians attending the gathering were doing so "in order to gain power." Ghani's chief adviser, Fazel Fazly, tweeted that it was "regrettable."
A statement released on Monday by Afghans attending the Moscow meeting described it as "the first step toward intra-Afghan dialogue."