| That and five bucks’ll get you something with caffeine and lots of calories at Starbucks. |
...Arabic for
students...
officials and Afghan opposition figures claimed on Thursday to have made "tremendous progress" at Moscow talks, but the announcement rang hollow as discussions yet again excluded the Afghan government and no ceasefire was announced.
The ultra-conservative Islamist turbans spent more than two days at a plush hotel in central Moscow, where they met several leading Afghan politicians ‐ including past president Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the
Southern Alliance...
and former warlord Atta Muhammad Nur.
In a joint statement, the parties said they’d had "productive and constructive" discussions focusing on issues including a possible ceasefire, the "strengthening of the Islamic system" and "women’s rights".
"Both sides have had tremendous progress, but some issues require further discussions," the statement read.
But with the Kabul administration ‐ viewed by the Taliban as a US-backed puppet regime ‐ once more sidelined from the conversation, it was difficult to see what tangible results could come from the talks.
Afghanistan's Caped President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..had proposed a nationwide ceasefire at the start of the holy month of Ramazan, but the Taliban rejected the offer.