Arrests of Top Taliban Figures Ended Talks, Ex-Envoy Says, The New York Times, 19 March 2010
EXCERPT: "The former top United Nations official in Afghanistan said that recent arrests of high-ranking Taliban figures by Pakistan have severed important secret communications between the Taliban and the West, possibly delaying peace negotiations and making them more difficult. Kai Eide, the former special representative for the United Nations secretary general, told the BBC in an interview broadcast Friday that, for the past year, the United Nations had been quietly involved in early discussions with Taliban figures in Dubai. He said those talks were upended by the arrests of senior Afghan Taliban figures, including the group’s second in command. There is a growing consensus among officials from the United Nations and Western European countries that ending the war in Afghanistan will require internationally supported negotiations with the Taliban. But Mr. Eide, who stepped down earlier this month, said the effect of the arrests 'was negative on our possibilities to continue the political process that we saw as so necessary at that particular juncture.'"
Read the full story.
Related articles:
Pakistan denies arrests thwarted Taliban talks, The Washington Post, 19 March 2010
Pakistan's role in Afghanistan: Tickets to the endgame, The Economist, 18 March 2010
Americans have direct access to Taliban No. 2, Reuters, 17 March 2010
Karzai, Obama discuss prospects of Taliban talks, Reuters, 15 March 2010
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