Taliban travel to Uzbekistan for talks with officials

Uzbek's Foreign Affairs Ministry website offered a terse two-line announcement on the visit saying "the sides exchanged views on prospects of the peace process in Afghanistan."

Taliban and Uzbek officials say the head of the Taliban's political office in Qatar led a delegation to Uzbekistan to meet senior Foreign Ministry officials in a rare diplomatic foray — and the strongest sign yet of the insurgency's increasing political presence in the region.

Taliban political chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai represented the insurgents in the four-day talks that ended Friday.

Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha, said in a statement to The Associated Press that discussions covered everything from international troop withdrawal to peace prospects to possible Uzbek-funded development projects that could include railway lines and electricity.

Uzbek's Foreign Affairs Ministry website offered a terse two-line announcement on the visit saying "the sides exchanged views on prospects of the peace process in Afghanistan."

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