Taliban arrests had 'negative impact'

The arrest of Taliban leaders has had a "negative impact" on efforts by the Afghan government to broker a peace deal with the insurgents, a spokesman for President Hamid Karzai says. Recent arrests in Pakistan of the Taliban's second-in-command, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and others in the Islamists' hierarchy slowed down Afghan government peace initiatives, Siamak Hirawi told AFP on Saturday. "We confirm the negative impact of the arrests on the peace process that the Afghan government has initiated," said Hirawi, Karzai's deputy spokesman. His was the first official confirmation from the Kabul government that there had been contact with the Taliban, with the intention of discussing an end to the insurgency now in its ninth year. He also confirmed that the former UN envoy to Afghanistan, Kai Eide, had held peace talks with Taliban figures and said Eide had kept the Afghan government informed of his actions. Hirawi said Eide's talks with the Taliban were part of a process initiated by the UN to help the Afghan government's peace plan. "Of course, he was keeping the Afghan government informed of his talks," he said. "Mr Kai Eide's efforts were a supplement to Afghan government's (peace) efforts," he said, adding that Karzai's government has led the process. "The Afghan government has been leading this process and the United Nations has tried to help efforts to solve the Afghan problem through talks, and the international community has also agreed with us," he said. "The international community has agreed with us that those Afghans who are not linked to foreign intelligence or terrorist organisations (can be part of the peace process)," he added, in an apparent reference to Pakistan and al-Qaeda.