Taliban dismiss Afghan-Pakistan Peace Jirga
'Pakistan Times' Foreign Desk

KANDAHAR (Afghanistan): The Taliban dismissed Sunday a planned traditional gathering between Afghanistan and Pakistan on the insurgency, saying it was an attempt to "deceive" ordinary Afghans.

President Hamid Karzai announced last week that the neighbours would hold the gathering, called a jirga, on August 1.

It is intended to bring together about 700 tribal leaders, politicians and academics from both sides to find a way to tackle the growing Taliban-led insurgency.

"It's an attempt by Karzai's government to deceive people," said a Taliban statement read over the telephone by one of the rebels' spokesmen.

"But Afghans know this and will never accept it. Afghans are thinking about freedom and will gain their freedom," read the spokesman, Yousuf Ahamdi.

The Taliban, toppled from government in late 2001, claim that Karzai's government is "a stooge of the West and that the thousands of foreign troops in the country to help bring security are invaders."●