Government resumes dialogue with Afghan opposition1

A delegation of the Afghan opposition Northern Alliance (or United Front) visited the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, on 15 March to hold talks with Uzbek authorities, Iranian radio reported on Sunday. The visit came at a low point in relations between the Uzbek authorities and Afghanistan’s Taliban movement, following Tashkent’s failure in its effort to settle differences with the Taliban, the report said. Uzbekistan’s attempts at resolving the threat of its militant Islamic opposition have not been fruitful and relations between it and the Taliban reached an impasse when the latter announced that the main Uzbek opposition warlord, Juma Namangany, had been given political asylum in Afghanistan. The unexpected announcement by the Taliban that they were sheltering Namangany had come at a time when the regime was close to settling their differences with Uzbekistan, according to Iranian radio. The United Front delegation was led by the acting foreign minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, Dr Abdollah. “We want to settle the Afghan issue by political means and negotiations. We welcome every country who goes along with us and supports us on this path,” the Iranian report quoted the United Front’s ambassador to Iran, Khayrkhah, as saying.