ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR (Reuters) - Taliban commanders refused to meet their former chief in the Pakistani city of Peshawar on Thursday because he was accompanied by Pakistani security agents, dealing a blow to attempts to resume Afghan peace talks, security and militant sources said.
Afghanistan and the United States believe Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who has been held in Pakistan since 2010, holds the key to stopping the war in Afghanistan because he is influential enough to persuade his former comrades there to stop fighting.