Kabul: The Afghan and Pakistani governments are seeking peace talks with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia separate from US-brokered talks with the insurgents in Qatar, officials said on Sunday.

The Taliban, ousted from power by a US-led invasion in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, announced earlier this month that they planned to set up a political office in Qatar ahead of talks with Washington. Taliban negotiators have begun holding preliminary talks with US officials in the Gulf state on plans for peace talks aimed at ending the decade-long war in Afghanistan, a former Taliban official said Sunday.
But Afghan and Taliban officials indicated in response to a BBC report about plans for talks in Saudi Arabia that both Kabul and Islamabad were looking for their own talks with the insurgents.
Asked for his response to the BBC report, Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said: "Of course we support any steps towards the Afghan peace process." He refused to comment further.
But a senior Afghan government official, speaking on condition of anonymity said: "We will always pursue all roads towards peace in Afghanistan, including contacts with the Taliban that are not limited to the Qatar office."
He acknowledged the accuracy of the BBC report but said he did not know of any timetable for the talks in Saudi Arabia to begin.
A member of the Taliban`s leadership council, the Pakistan-based Quetta Shura, also backed the report of talks in Saudi Arabia.
"The idea that the Taliban should have a point of contact in Saudi is pushed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments," he said on condition of anonymity. PTI