Afghan Taliban say claim of talks is "propaganda"

[Coventina]

Source: Reuters

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban denied on Wednesday that they were holding peace talks with the government, saying such claims were propaganda aimed at creating a schism among the militants.

The insurgents, who have made a comeback in recent years and carried out a number of high-profile attacks despite the growing number of Western troops, once again pledged to fight until all foreign troops pulled out of Afghanistan.

The spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday the government had made progress in talks with the Taliban and was asking foreign allies to remove the names of some militants from wanted lists.

(snip)

"There have been no talks with the Taliban. This is just propaganda to influence public opinion, to show that 'we (the government) are interested in peace, but they (the Taliban) are not'," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman said.



Read more: http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE53L2VH20090422