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Russia Has Contacts With Taliban
WASHINGTON, April 4 (IslamOnline) - In a surprise revelation
last week, a senior Russian minister has said that his country has had unofficial contacts with the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
In an interview with the Moscow daily Komsmolskaya, Russia's First Deputy Foreign Minister Vyachislav Trubnikov acknowledged contacts with the Taliban but said that the two adversaries speak to each other in "different languages".
Trubnikov said that the involvement of the Taliban in peace talks is necessary if order is ever to be restored Afghanistan.
"It is necessary to try to speak to the Talibs, but only for the purpose of bringing them to the negotiation table and convince them that there would not be any victor in this war.
"We are bound to demand from the Talibs that they should stop training on the territory controlled by them international bandits who later infiltrate into Chechnya and involve in vandalism and terror," Trubnikov said.
"That is why we are bound to speak to the Talibs from time to time," he said, adding that Afghanistan has already turned into an "enclave for the production of international class terrorists."
Trubnikov, in charge of Afghanistan section in the Russian Foreign Ministry, dismissed claims that 90% of Afghanistan was under Taliban control.
"Kabul never controlled the entire territory of Afghanistan. The tribes from the northwest border province traveled from place to place and settled wherever they liked without knowing the borders," he said.
Trubnikov stated that there could be no military solution to the Afghan problem and that all sensible people rule out armed force as a policy tool to solve problems, adding that certain forces in Pakistan perpetuate the idea of armed conflict to the Taliban guiding them to that end.
"That is why a common language should be found not with the Talibs [alone] but with all warring forces. Common language should be found with third forces - the Afghan diaspora who live beyond the borders of Afghanistan … can be of use," he said.
Trubnikov added that a peaceful solution is not possible without the help of the Afghan diaspora, including the intelligentsia, military personnel and educated people.
"The current population in the country is unfortunately engaged either in shooting or producing narcotics and that is why other forces are required for rebuilding Afghanistan," the Russian minister added.
Regarding relations with Taliban government, he said, "It is important that contacts with the Talibs are maintained strictly within the framework of international decisions."
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