Negotiating with Taliban

“U.S. to resume peace talks with Taliban, officials say

The Obama administration will resume peace talks with the Taliban as soon as Afghan President Hamid Karzai formally blesses the negotiations, according to senior administration officials who indicated the process could be underway within weeks. 

Marc Grossman, the senior U.S. diplomat who shepherded a series of secret U.S. meetings with the insurgents last year, will meet with Karzai late next week to ensure that the Afghan president is on board, officials said. 


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http://www.washingtonpost.com/...PpzrP_story.html”

“The Taliban (Pashto: طالبان), alternative spelling Taleban,[5] (ṭālibān, meaning "students" in Arabic) is an Islamist militant and political group that ruled large parts of Afghanistan and its capital, Kabul, as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until October 2001. It gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The main leader of the Taliban movement is Mullah Mohammed Omar.[6]

While in power, the Taliban enforced one of the strictest interpretations of Sharia law ever seen in the Muslim world,[7] and leading Muslims have been highly critical of the Taliban interpretations of Islamic law.[8]The Taliban were condemned internationally for their brutal repression of women. Most Taliban leaders were influenced by Deobandifundamentalism,[9] and many also strictly follow the social and cultural norm called Pashtunwali.[10] The Taliban movement is primarily made up of members belonging to Pashtun tribes, the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.[11]”