The U.S. is speeding up direct talks with the Taliban in an attempt to have good news by the time troop withdrawals begin in Afghanistan in July, U.S. officials said. A senior Afghan official said a U.S. representative attended at least three meetings in Qatar and Germany—with one as recently as “eight or nine days ago”—and a Taliban official considered close to leader Mohammad Omar attended. Earlier attempts at talks failed last year when an alleged Taliban leader turned out to be a fraud—a reason that also caused meetings between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Taliban to fall apart. U.S. officials said Afghans have been “fully briefed” on the U.S.-Taliban contact, but Pakistanis “only partially so”—in part because the U.S. no longer feels it is necessary to get the Pakistani government's permission to negotiate with the Taliban.
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