US to drop Mullah Omar from blacklist

Tue, 28 Oct 2008

http://www.presstv. ir/detail. aspx?id=73563&sectionid=

 

351020403

 

Mullah Omar

 

 

The US agrees to drop the name of the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar

from the terror list ahead of talks with the insurgents, an official

says.

 

"US intends to remove Mullah Omar from the black list in a bid to

provide a suitable seedbed for holding contacts with the Taliban,"

said Sunday, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau

of South and Central Asian Affairs Patrick S. Moon.

 

Moon added that during his upcoming visit to Kabul , he will fully

support the idea of negotiated settlement with the Taliban militants

to end the violence in the region. He also reiterated that the talks

with the Taliban insurgents were possible within the Afghan

Constitution.

 

Also, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the United

States was considering taking part in talks with Taliban in a sharp

change in tactics in Afghanistan .

 

The developments come at a time when US, British and NATO forces are

experiencing some of the most violent attacks since the 2001 invasion

of Afghanistan .

 

Mullah Mohammad Omar, known as simply 'Mullah Omar', is the reclusive

leader of Taliban of Afghanistan and was the country's de facto head

of state from 1996 to 2001. He went into hiding, following the US-led

invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

 

Mullah Omar was wanted by the US for harboring Osama bin Laden and

his al-Qaeda network.