{{The White House said that President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai support the idea of holding talks with the Taliban in the Islamist group\u2019s Qatar office.}}<\/p>\n
In a video call, the two leaders \u201creaffirmed that an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process is the surest way to end violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and the region,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey reiterated their support for an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the (the Afghan government\u2019s) High Peace Council and authorized representatives of the Taliban.\u201d<\/p>\n
Obama appeared to have persuaded Karzai to renew peace efforts after the Afghan leader\u2019s furious response to the Taliban\u2019s portrayal of its newly opened Qatar office as the headquarters of a state-in-exile.<\/p>\n
US envoy James Dobbins said Monday that Washington was also \u201coutraged\u201d at how the Taliban opened the office, which had been intended as a first step towards a peace deal to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
The Taliban opened the office under the rebel group\u2019s white flag and referred to themselves as the \u201cIslamic Emirate Of Afghanistan,\u201d the name of their hardline 1996-2001 regime.<\/p>\n
The flag and the name were the focus of a diplomatic bust-up that derailed an early stage of efforts to start peace talks as the US-led NATO combat mission winds down 12 years after the Taliban were ousted.<\/p>\n
The Afghan government, which has said it is still committed to the peace process, insists the Taliban\u2019s office in the Gulf state must only be used for direct negotiations with Karzai\u2019s appointed negotiators.<\/p>\n
The contentious sign, flag and flagpole unveiled at the opening of the office last Tuesday have now been moved.<\/p>\n
Karzai, angered at how the Taliban had been allowed to pull off such a publicity coup, also broke off Afghan-US talks on an agreement that could allow the US to maintain soldiers in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends.<\/p>\n
The White House statement said Obama welcomed the June 18 \u201cmilestone\u201d at which Afghan security forces take the lead for operations countrywide.<\/p>\n
{Wirestory}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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