Karzai expedites efforts for peace process

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Karzai expedites efforts for peace process

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Karzai meets Taliban insurgents faction to discuss peace negotiations.

21 January,2012 01:28 pm

Afghanistans President Hamid Karzai confirms he has personally met with a delegation from the insurgent faction Hizb-i-Islami for peace negotiations that he hopes will have good results.Karzais Saturday announcement to parliament appears to assert his own standing in any future peace process by showing his ability to bring militant factions other than the Taliban to the negotiating table. He did not specify when the meeting took place.The U.S. has been pushing for talks with the Taliban outside the country. Special American representative Marc Grossman is to meet Karzai on Saturday to discuss progress and plans.Hizb-i-Islami is a radical Islamist militia that controls territory in Afghanistans northeast. Its leader, Gulbiddin Hekmatyar, is a former U.S. ally now listed as a terrorist by Washington.