Taliban deny meeting UN envoy for Afghan peace talks in London

The Taliban denied yesterday that leaders of the group fighting to overthrow the Afghan government had met UN representatives to discuss bringing peace to Afghanistan.

The Taliban issued a statement branding reports of a meeting with the UN's outgoing special representative to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, in Dubai this month "rumours" and "propaganda".

Referring to itself as "the leading council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan" - as it did during its 1996-2001 rule of the country - the group said the reports were "propaganda by the invading forces against the jihad and mujahideen".

"The leading council of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan strongly denies the rumours reported by some international media about talks between Kai Eide and representatives of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," the Taliban said.

"To defuse this (propaganda) we insist on continuing our holy Islamic jihad against the enemy," it said, referring to the US and NATO forces fighting the Taliban insurgency.

The statement was read to AFP by purported Taliban spokesman Zabehullah Mujahed, speaking by phone from an undisclosed location.

He said the Taliban's refusal to negotiate peace had ensured the failure of an international conference in London on Thursday attended by around 70 countries.

"Now in an effort to recover their military and political prestige, the enemies are resorting to a propaganda conspiracy," he said.

Reports that Eide had met Taliban figures emerged after the London conference, which aimed to thrash out a road map for Afghanistan, one of the main themes being the social reintegration of Taliban fighters.

A UN official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "active members of the insurgency" had met Eide in Dubai on January 8, at their request, to discuss peace talks.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who hosted the conference, last Friday declined to comment on the reported meeting, calling it an "allegation".

A Western diplomat, who asked not to be named, said it was not clear who was involved in the meeting as insurgent groups in different parts of the country fight under different banners.

"In the south it's Al-Qaeda or the Haqqani network or criminal gangs who don't fall under the Taliban," he said, referring to one of the major sticking points in forging a peace deal.

"There is talk it could have been the Quetta shura," he said, referring to the leadership of the Afghan Taliban based across the border in Pakistan.

President Hamid Karzai has said he will not negotiate with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban have said they will not hold peace talks until foreign troops leave Afghanistan.

Karzai's government is backed by 113,000 US and NATO troops, with another 40,000 being deployed this year to take the fight to the Taliban, who many military officials say are starting to show signs of battle fatigue.