KABUL — Efforts to start peace talks with the Taliban appear to be gaining traction, with the head of the Afghan peace council saying Saturday that it has been in contact with three factions of the insurgent movement and the U.S. defense secretary predicting negotiations by the end of the year.
Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, has reached out to three insurgent groups, although it is unclear how the efforts by the peace council and the U.S. dovetail, Western officials say.
The United Nations will give a thumbs-up or thumbs-down this month on whether to take Taliban figures off a U.N. sanctions blacklist — a move that could enable prospective intermediaries to travel abroad to hold talks.
One Western official said the fate of the only U.S. soldier being held by insurgents has been mentioned in recent preliminary discussions between the Americans and Tayyab Aga, the former personal secretary to the Taliban’s one-eyed leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar.
The U.S. is asking what it will take to win the release of Spec. Bowe Bergdahl of Hailey, Idaho. The Associated Press
