Afghan officials are meeting Taliban rebels and envoys from another Islamist militant group near Paris, looking beyond Afghanistan's uprising to a future long after international forces have returned home, Belfast Telegraph said.
French hosts say the secretive, rare two-day meeting among rival Afghans in Chantilly – known partly for its equine training grounds – is not expected to involve any horse-trading towards a possible peace and reconciliation deal.
About 20 Afghans from President Hamid Karzai's government, the Taliban, as well as the political opposition and the Islamist Hezb-e-Islami militant group will be merely trying to foster a conversation after 11 years of war.
The meeting comes as France is pulling its last combat troops from Afghanistan – well ahead of Nato's withdrawal timetable.
