Karzai 'holding talks with Taliban'

The Afghan government has been holding secret talks for months with a Taliban group linked to al Qaida, a source said today.

A member of the Afghan parliament who did not want to be identified said President Hamid Karzai’s government had been in direct contact with Jalaludin Haqqani, the ageing leader of the Haqqani network, which is based in Pakistan and is believed to have close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence service.