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November 23, 2010

Report: Taliban Leader in Secret Talks Was An Impostor
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In news from Afghanistan, secret talks between U.S. officials and the
Taliban have collapsed after the United States concluded a key member of
the talks was a Pakistani shopkeeper posing as a senior commander of the
Taliban. For three months officials have held meetings with a man who
identified himself as Mullah Akhtar Muhammad Mansour, the
second-in-command at the Taliban. The New York Times reports the fake
Taliban leader even met with President Hamid Karzai, having been flown
to Kabul on a NATO aircraft and ushered into the presidential palace.
The imposter was also given a sizable sum of money to take part in the
talks.



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