The last meetings held after the insurgents entered Kabul were informal, explained Gulabadin Hekmatyar, head of the Hezb-e-Islami Islamic fundamentalist political-military faction, as reported by the TOLO news channel.

The Taliban have expressed interest in establishing an inclusive and broad-based government in Afghanistan, Hekmatyar told a private television channel, as quoted by the Pajhwok news agency.

Baradar will possibly undertake a meeting with the so-called Coordination Council made up of the country’s former President Hamid Karzai, former Prime Minister Abdullah Abdullah and Gulbuddin Hemaktyar.

Dr. Abdullah and Karzai are in contact with the Taliban on a future political configuration, the source said.

Baradar returned to the country from the capital of Qatar, Doha, last Tuesday and has remained to date in the Afghan province of Kandahar, considered the cradle of the Taliban.

During his stay in Doha, Baradar served as Taliban chief in negotiations with the United States on troop withdrawal, and later led the unsuccessful peace talks with the defunct Afghan government.

pgh/llp/msm/abm