U.S. says talks with Taliban should resume in 2012

U.S. officials say that talks with Taliban rebellion which halted in December need to resume to finally reach a peace agreement.

30 December 2011, 12:00am

1 min read

Talks with U.S. set to resume in 2012 following objections from Aghan President Hamid Karzai

The Obama administration anticipate a continuation of U.S. talks with the Taliban insurgency in the Spring of 2012 according to U.S. and Afghan officials.

Talks had been put on hold due to disagreements between the two parties in December after reaching a critical point.

The Afghan President Hamid Karzai had objected during talks to two crucial trust-building initiatives.

The first was to build a Taliban headquarters office and the other was to release around five Afghan prisoners from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba who are considered to be affiliated with the Taliban.

U.S. officials said that one goal during discussions would be the identification and use of cease-fire zones as a step toward full peace agreements.