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Female Afghan Peace Negotiator Survives Assassination Bid

Ayaz Gul

   ISLAMABAD - Officials in Afghanistan said Saturday a prominent female
   peace negotiator had survived an assassination attempt ahead of
   U.S.-brokered negotiations with the Islamist Taliban.
   Fawzia Koofi, a 45-year-old former Afghan parliamentarian and a
   renowned human rights activist, was returning to Kabul from the
   neighboring northern Parwan province Friday evening when unknown gunmen
   ambushed and attacked her vehicle in a marketplace near the capital
   city.
   Koofi was "slightly" wounded but she was in "good health," tweeted
   Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, the head of a 21-member national team
   designated to negotiate a political settlement to the country's long
   conflict with the Taliban.

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