The Taliban say they are not attending peace talks with the Afghan government in the Maldives.
Maldives spokesman Mohammed Zuhair said on Thursday that representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban members were meeting in the island nation this week to discuss an end to the nearly nine-year war.
A Taliban statement e-mailed to reporters on Friday said those at the talks claiming to be from the Taliban are no longer active members and have “surrendered” to President Hamid Karzai’s government.
The talks were organised by Hizb-i-Islami, a Taliban-allied insurgent group which began negotiations with the government last March.
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Bangla, Russia sign nuclear power dealDhaka: Bangladesh and Russia are finalising a deal on the first nuclear power plants in the energy-starved South Asian nation, an official said. An official in the government’s Atomic Energy Commission said on Saturday that talks on nuclear cooperation were progressing.
“We will require signing a few more agreements with Russia to go for the final implementation,” he said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. He said under the agreement, the two countries would design, construct and operate nuclear power plants while Russia would train Bangladeshi officials and engineers.
—AP
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Indian family death: Foul play suspected
Kuala Lumpur: The Malaysian police will probe the incident of an Indian couple who apparently poisoned their two-year-old son and then committed suicide as it suspects foul play into the tragedy.
Meanwhile, the bodies of Manish Dinesh Wadhwani, 34, Niveditaa Manish Wadhwani, 29, and son Yoghansh Manish Wadhwani were flown by Malaysia Airlines from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Friday night.
Manish and Niveditaa apparently jumped off the 29th floor of their luxury condominium in the predominantly Indian neighbourhood of Brickfields.
—PTI