columbo, February 17: A Maldives government spokesman says delegations representing the Taliban and the Afghan government held talks in the Maldives at the end of January.
Spokesman Mohamed Zuhair said Wednesday the delegations, each consisting 11 members, held three days of face-to-face talks on finding a peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict.
Zuhair said that the Maldives government was not directly involved in organizing the talks, which did not involve any third party.
Zuhair said none of those participating were considered a security threat for the island nation.
He said among those representing the Taliban was the son of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a notorious warlord and former Afghan prime minister, whose rebel group fights daily battles with American and Afghan troops in eastern Afghanistan.
—Agencies