Afghan peace would include U.S. pullout

KABUL, Afghanistan, May 21 (UPI) -- A U.S. troop pullout is being raised by Afghan and Pakistani leaders and the Taliban in talks with intermediaries about a possible peace accord, leaders said.

The discussions so far have produced no agreements since the militants seem adamant that any deal include a promise of U.S. troop withdrawal, The New York Times reported Thursday. This point of discussion comes as the Obama administration is sending more combat troops to Afghanistan.

The talks have been under way for months, but have picked up the pace since Barack Obama became U.S. president and have produced more specific demands, Afghan intermediaries said.

Taliban leaders and other militants, through spokesmen, deny any involvement, the Times said, but Afghans say they have been talking to the Taliban leadership group led by Mullah Muhammad Omar, the movement's founder. Discussions also have been held with representatives of several warlords in the tribal area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

"America cannot win this war, and the Taliban cannot win this war," Mullah Abdul Salaam Zaeef, a former Taliban ambassador and one of the intermediaries, told the Times. "I have delivered this message to the Taliban."