High-Level Talks Aim for an End to the Afghan War

Talks to end the war in Afghanistan involve extensive,

face-to-face discussions with Taliban commanders from the
highest levels of the group's leadership, who are secretly
leaving their sanctuaries in Pakistan with the help of NATO
troops, officials here say.

The discussions, some of which have taken place in Kabul, are
unfolding between the inner circle of President Hamid Karzai
and members of the Quetta shura, the leadership group that
oversees the Taliban war effort inside Afghanistan.

Afghan leaders have also held discussions with leaders of the
Haqqani network, considered to be one of the most hard-line
guerrilla factions fighting here; and members of the Peshawar
shura, whose fighters are based in eastern Afghanistan.