WASHINGTON- United States envoys will meet with Taliban representatives within days, senior officials said on Tuesday, after the Afghan militants opened an office in Qatar to oversee peace negotiations. US-led Nato forces are still fighting Taliban guerrillas on the Afghan battlefield, but the unveiling of the group's Doha mission is the most concrete symbol yet of behind the scenes moves to end the conflict. “I think the US will have its first formal meeting with the Taliban, and the first meeting with the Taliban for several years, in a couple of days in Doha,” a US official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“I would expect that to be followed up within days by a meeting between the Taliban and the High Peace Council, which is the structure that President Karzai has set up for talks of this nature,” the senior source said.