Karzai to discuss Taliban peace effort

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai took his Taliban peace effort to Pakistan Thursday as his officials met with both the militant group and the United States.

Meanwhile, Pakistan also prepared to host Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Iran's state-supported Press TV said the Iranian president would take part in a tripartite summit with Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari for regional cooperation and development.

Karzai said he will seek to find ways how Pakistan can help in the peace talks with the Taliban, The New York Times reported.

Wednesday, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Karzai said his country along with the United States had begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban for starting peace negotiations, which U.S. officials said were only preliminary.

"There have been contacts between the U.S. government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban," Karzai told the Journal.

The New York Times said the significance of that was until now the Taliban has refused to talk directly with the Karzai government.