Dr. Abdullah:US Seeking to Legitimize Taliban through Negotiations

 "… No doubt the Taliban is eager to negotiate with the US since the group
sees the talks a positive step towards its legitimacy," former Afghan Foreign
Minister Abdullah Abdullah told FNA.

He said that some foreign countries have taken advantage and get involved in
Afghan peace talks after the Afghan government failed to encourage the Taliban
to hold talks with the central government within the geographical borders of
Afghanistan.

In January, first Vice-Speaker of the Afghan Senate Mohammad Alam Izadyar
criticized the secret talks between the US and the Taliban, and stated that the
so-called Afghan Peace Talks lack "transparency".

"Details of the Afghan peace talks should not be hidden from the people of
the country," Izadyar told Afghanistan TV at the time.

Taliban announced at the time that they had struck a deal to open a political
office in Qatar that could allow for direct negotiations.

In a statement, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said that
along with a preliminary deal to set up the office in Qatar, the group was
asking that Taliban detainees held at the American prison in Guantanamo Bay,
Cuba, be released.

Some analysts are skeptical of the prospects for meaningful peace
negotiations with the Taliban.

The developments came as Pakistani media revealed last week that the United
States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has removed the name of Afghan
Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar from the list of "most wanted terrorists."

The report came following Washington's secret meetings with the Taliban after
one decade of war. US officials have held several meetings with representatives
of the Afghan Taliban leader, headed by Tayyib Agha, in Germany and Qatar over
the past months.

During the meetings, the US and Taliban negotiators reached a deal to
transfer five Taliban militants, who are under custody in Guantanamo Bay in
Cuba, to Qatar. The removal of Mullah Omar's name from the terror list comes
after the prisoner deal.

The founder of the Taliban, Mullah Omar, has been in hiding since the 2001
US-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Washington removed Mullah Omar's name despite its continued allegations that
the Taliban and Osama Bin Laden were behind the September, 11 attacks in the US.
Mullah Omar was Bin Laden's staunchest ally and most intimate friend.

The United States invaded Afghanistan 10 years ago under the pretext of
eradicating the Taliban, but its failure has forced Washington to turn to
negotiation with militants.

The US government has planned new round of talks with the Taliban in early
2012.