US official meets with Taleban official

The US official in charge of southern Asia affairs at the US State Department, Carl Inderfurth, met in Islamabad on Wednesday with the delegation representing the Taleban movement led by Deputy Foreign Minister Jalil Akhound.

The meeting was held in a top secret atmosphere and the spokesman for the US embassy in Islamabad refused to define the place and time of convening the meeting for security reasons.

This is the first meeting held between the two sides since last August when Washington fired tomahawk missiles against camps in eastern Afghanistan, which the US said were associated with Osama Bin Laden.

Earlier in the day a US source in Islamabad said that Inderfurth would meet with the Taleban delegation. AFP quoted the same source as saying that the US official would extend his visit to Pakistan for several days after he took part in the meetings held by Strobe Talbot, the US undersecretary of state, with Pakistani officials.

The talks centered on means of limiting the deployment of nuclear weapons. In this respect the Pakistani daily "the news" said that al-Mulla Jalil Akhound, the foreign minister in the Taleban government will head for Pakistan to meet with Inderfurth.

Afghan sources also confirmed the meeting.