塔利班称上周与美国高官会谈

A senior U.S. diplomat held talks last week in Doha with representatives of the Taliban, with no one from the Afghan government present, top Taliban officials said Sunday.

As first reported by The Wall Street Journal, the Taliban said the talks with deputy assistant secretary of state Alice Wells ended with "very positive signals" and a decision to hold more talks.

"You can't call it peace talks. There are a series of meetings for initiating formal and purposeful talks. We agreed to meet again soon and resolve the Afghan conflict through dialogue," a Taliban official said.

He gave no details of the talks.A U.S. State Department spokeswoman did not confirm or deny the meeting, but repeated the long-held U.S. policy that "any negotiations over the political future of Afghanistan will be between the Taliban and the Afghan government."

A successful cease-fire in Afghanistan for Eid al-Fitr - the holiday marking the end of Ramadan - has given all sides confidence that peace talks in Afghanistan are possible.

There has been speculation that another cease-fire for next month's Eid-al Qurban holiday is possible.

The Taliban has said there can be peace in Afghanistan only when all foreign fighters leave.

Past U.S. efforts to open peace talks in Afghanistan failed.

阿富汗塔利班高级领导人星期天说，一名美国高级外交官上星期在多哈与塔利班代表举行了会谈，没有任何阿富汗政府官员在场。

最先报道有关这次会谈的美国《华尔街日报》说，塔利班说与美国副助理国务卿威尔斯的会谈以“十分积极的信号”结束，并决定继续举行会谈。

一位塔利班负责人说：“不能称之为和平会谈。启动正式和确定目标的会谈前要有一系列会议。我们同意很快再次会谈，通过对话化解阿富汗冲突。”

他没有透露任何会谈细节。美国国务院的发言人既不证实也不否认这次会谈，但是重申了美国长期以来的政策，“任何有关阿富汗政治未来的谈判都将在塔利班和阿富汗政府之间进行”。

阿富汗开斋节成功实现停火给冲突各方带来有可能举行阿富汗和平谈判的信心。

塔利班曾表示，只有一切外国战斗人员离开才能在阿富汗实现和平。

美国过去试图开启和平谈判的努力均以失败告终。