Afghan govt rejects preconditions for Taliban talks
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The Afghan government is ready for peace talks with the Taliban, but will not accept preconditions demanded by the Islamist rebels such as the withdrawal of all foreign troops, the presidential spokesman said on Tuesday.
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Fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Omar purportedly said in an audiotape aired Sunday that Afghanistan&#039;s government and the U.S.-led coalition supporting it do not have the wisdom to solve the nation&#039;s crisis.
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Afghanistan&#39;s Taliban guerrillas reiterated on Wednesday that they had nothing to do with the kidnapping of three UN workers and said they opposed the use of women as hostages for the release of prisoners.
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Afghan President Hamid Karzai on   Tuesday shrugged off complaints from Pakistani President Pervez   Musharraf about his handling of a resurgent Taliban a day ahead   of joint talks with Musharraf and President George W. Bush.
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Afghanistan's defense minister said  Tuesday his government had contacts with the Taliban to try to  persuade them to lay down their arms and return to normal life,  but vowed no let-up in the military campaign against them.
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Claims that top officials talked to the Taliban in Afghanistan threatened fresh embarrassment Thursday for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had previously ruled out negotiations with the militia.
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The US military denied reports that the coalition in Afghanistan had launched air strikes to quell fighting in the west of the country.
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Kabul has angrily rejected comments by   Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf that the Taliban had grown   more dangerous than al Qaeda with the support of Afghans,   accusing some in Pakistan of sponsoring the rebels.
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NATO defense ministers will hold talks with their Afghan counterpart on Friday as the United States urges allies to devote more resources to support the government in Kabul.
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The Iraqi government denied on Monday  it had suspended talks to avert a military assault on the  rebel-held city of Falluja.
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Afghanistan's Taliban militia spurned an amnesty offered by US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad on condition the hardline Islamic fighters lay down their arms, a report said.
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The Sri Lankan government denied on   Wednesday having agreed to hold unconditional peace talks with   Tamil Tiger rebels, as announced by international mediators.
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On Wednesday, Karzai issued a decree ordering a traditional Eid prisoner amnesty but a presidential official insisted the order did not cover the prisoners the militants want freed.
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The Canadian military has stopped turning over detainees to Afghan authorities due to allegations of torture, the Justice Ministry said in a letter sent Wednesday to civil rights groups.
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Marxist rebels on Monday rejected a Colombian government proposal to hold talks at a foreign embassy in Bogota over a proposed swap of jailed rebels for guerrilla-held hostages, including three Americans.
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An Afghan militant group threatening to kill three kidnapped foreigners said it was involved in negotiations through a mediator but denied extending the Wednesday deadline for their execution.
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Afghanistan&#39;s Islamist Taliban militia will have to be involved in the country&#39;s peace process, Britain&#39;s defence minister has said.