KABUL, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Taliban outfit has confirmed that its leaders had held talks with the U.S. special envoy for Afghan peace and reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad, in Qatar's capital Doha on Friday, said a statement of the armed group posted on its website on Sunday.
The Taliban delegation, according to the statement includes chief of political office in Doha Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanekzai, deputy head Mawlawi Abdul Salam Hanafi, office members Shahabuddin Delawar, Qari Deen Mohammad Hanif, Mohammad Zahid Ahmadzi and Mohammad Suhil Shaheen.
Taliban purported spokesman Zabihullah Majahid who posted the statement on the armed groups's website, asserted that the "representatives of the Islamic Emirate" (name of ousted Taliban regime) in the meeting "described the presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan as the main obstacle in achieving peace" and demanded the withdrawal of foreign forces from the country.
"Keeping that in mind, efforts must be made towards a true and intra-Afghan solution. At the end both sides agreed to continue holding meetings in the future," the statement added.
The Afghan-born U.S. veteran diplomat Khalilzad after touring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and meeting Taliban leaders visited Kabul on Saturday and held talks with leaders and politicians within and outside the government.
