KABUL — The Taliban says it is not attending peace talks with the Afghan government in the Maldives.
Maldives spokesman Mohamed Zuhair said Thursday that representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban members were meeting in the island nation this week to discuss an end to the nearly nine- year war.
A Taliban statement e-mailed to reporters Friday said those at the talks claiming to be from the Taliban are no longer active members and have “surrendered” to President Hamid Karzai’s government.
The talks were organized by Hizb-i-Islami, a Taliban-allied insurgent group that began negotiations with the government in March. The government says it has no representative at the talks, either, although lawmakers are there unofficially. The Associated Press
