Karzai govt invites Taliban to peace meeting

Talk about looking the wrong way down the barrel of a Loaded Gun !

I would just like to Know how many times this has ever worked with the Taliban ( when it has lasted more than a week ! )

LONDON (Reuters) - The Afghan government on Thursday invited Taliban insurgents to a peace council of elders as part of efforts to find a way out of a conflict which is trying the patience and resources of Afghanistan's Western allies.

In an indication of the quickening pace of diplomacy, a U.N. official said members of the Taliban's leadership council had secretly met the United Nations representative for Afghanistan to discuss the possibility of laying down their arms.

As leaders and ministers from 60 nations convened in London to discuss Afghanistan, the official told Reuters members of the Taliban's Quetta Shura had met U.N. Special Representative Kai Eide on January 8 in Dubai.

"They requested a meeting to talk about talks. They want protection, to be able to come out in public. They don't want to vanish into places like Bagram," the official said, referring to a detention center at a U.S. military base in Afghanistan.

The official said it was the first time such talks had taken place with members of the Taliban's top council, which U.S. officials say is based in the Pakistani city of Quetta.