KABUL: Three Taliban figures met secretly with Afghanistan's president two weeks ago in an effort by the Afghan government to weaken the US-led coalition's most vicious enemy, a powerful Al-Qaeda linked network that straddles the border region with Pakistan. A former Afghan official said the meeting in Kabul included an ex-Taliban governor, Maulvi Abdul Kabir. He comes from the same Zadran tribe as the leaders of the Haqqani network, an autonomous wing of the Taliban responsible for many attacks against US and Afghan forces, the former official said over the weekend. US and Afghan officials hope that if Kabir agrees to quit the insurgency, it could split the Zadran tribe and undercut the pool of recruits from which the Haqqanis currently draw fighters. But it was unclear whether any progress toward that end was made during the talks. Weakening the Haqqanis' grip over the Zadran tribe could help shift the power balance in eastern provinces where the network poses a major threat. The Haqqani network, led by ailing Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin, is believed to be sheltering top Al-Qaeda leaders across the border in Pakistan. Kabir served as governor of Nangarhar province and deputy prime minister during the Taliban rule, which ended with the US-led invasion of 2001. He is believed to run the Taliban council in the Pakistani city of Peshawar but is not considered a powerhouse in the Taliban. The two other Taliban who took part in the talks were Mullah Sadre Azam and Anwar-ul-Haq Mujahed. Mujahed is credited with helping Osama Bin Laden escape the US assault on Tora Bora in 2001, the former official said. He has been in Pakistani custody since June last year when he was picked up in a raid in Peshawar, where one of several Afghan Taliban shouras, or councils, is located. The men were brought by helicopter from Peshawar and spent two nights in a luxury Kabul hotel before returning to Pakistan. The US earlier this month acknowledged facilitating some Taliban trips to Kabul but provided no specifics. The Pakistani military has not commented on such reports. The former Afghan official described Kabir and his associates as “midlevel” contacts because they have little, if any influence over more powerful Taliban factions. A Western official confirmed a meeting had taken place but said he did not know who attended and whether any progress was made.
