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Afghan Taliban Deny Meeting with UN

   VOA News 30 January 2010
   Kai   Eide,   Special  Representative  of  the  Secretary-General  for
   Afghanistan  and  Head  of  the  United  Nations Assistance Mission in
   Afghanistan  (UNAMA),  briefs the Security Council on the situation in
   Afghanistan, 06 Jan 2010

Photo: UN/Paulo Filgueiras

   Kai   Eide,   Special  Representative  of  the  secretary-general  for
   Afghanistan  and  Head  of  the  United  Nations Assistance Mission in
   Afghanistan  (UNAMA),  briefs the Security Council on the situation in
   Afghanistan, 06 Jan 2010

   The  Taliban  are  denying  reports their leaders have met with a U.N.
   official to discuss prospects for peace in Afghanistan.
   The  Taliban  issued  a  statement Saturday saying the reports of them
   meeting  with  Kai Eide, the U.N. representative for Afghanistan, were
   baseless "rumors."
   The  militants'  statement  said  their refusal to negotiate peace had
   ensured  the failure of this week's international conference in London
   on stabilizing Afghanistan.
   An  unidentified  U.N. official attending the conference said Thursday
   the  Taliban  had  met  secretly  with  Eide  about the possibility of
   beginning peace talks with the government.
   The  official  said  the meeting took place January 8 in Dubai and was
   held at the militants' request.

   Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.

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