Afghan Foes Meet in Pakistan, Keep Cease-Fire

Afghanistan’s warring factions promised Sunday to continue a cease-fire as they opened face-to-face talks in Pakistan aimed at ending the bloody civil war that is devastating their impoverished nation.

The battlefield, just 18 miles north of Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, was silent as a reading from the Muslim holy book, the Koran, marked the ceremonial opening in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, of the two sides’ first direct talks. A day earlier, fighting forced a wave of refugees into the beleaguered Afghan capital.

Negotiators were sequestered for five hours before announcing that they would try to honor the existing cease-fire and that negotiations would resume today.

“We should talk about the problems that we have now and find a solution . . . we are aware of the historical burden on our shoulder,” said Wakil Ahmad Mutawakel, lead negotiator for the Taliban, which controls about 85% of Afghanistan.

“Any solution that brings two brothers together is acceptable,” said Fazl Hadi Shinwari, lead negotiator for the anti-Taliban alliance that controls the rest of the country, mostly in the north.

The talks, co-sponsored by the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, are expected to continue for three to five days.

They--and the latest cease-fire--were brokered by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Bill Richardson during an April 17 visit to Afghanistan.

The agenda includes the cease-fire, a prisoner exchange and the formation of a committee of Islamic scholars whose decisions would be binding on both the Taliban religious army and its northern-based opponents.