Abdullah hopeful for early start of Taliban talks, militants deny

KABUL: Afghanistan´s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah said Monday that peace talks with the Taliban could begin in the coming days, though the militants swiftly dismissed the idea.

There have been growing hopes in recent weeks of talks between Kabul and the Taliban aimed at moving towards reconciliation after more than a decade of war.

Since President Ashraf Ghani took office in September, relations have markedly improved with Pakistan, paving the way for possible dialogue with Taliban.

"Peace talks will inshallah (God willing) start in the next few days, this is in the interest of Afghanistan," Abdullah said during a meeting of the country´s Council of Ministers.

Abdullah took the newly-created role of chief executive, similar to prime minister, as part of a deal to end a protracted election crisis with presidential rival Ghani.

"The people of Afghanistan will be informed of the start of these talks, of developments and of when they end."

Abdullah hailed the visit of the powerful Pakistani army chief General Raheel Sharif to Kabul last week.

"We welcome his statement saying Afghanistan´s enemy is Pakistan´s enemy," Abdullah said.

"They said to those involved in the fighting, the Taliban, that they have no other option but to talk with the Afghan government."

But the militants denied that talks were about to begin.

"We have repeatedly said that those reports, which were not announced by officials of the Islamic Emirates of Afghanistan and their formal sources, are not true, and baseless," the Taliban said in a statement, referring to themselves by their preferred name.

Earlier in the day, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also praised Pakistan for recent efforts in paving the ground for peace and reconciliation.

He telephoned Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and discussed ongoing counter terrorism operations in the region. According to sources, the two also reviewed Pak-Afghan ties and matters of mutual interest.