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U.S. Tries to Salvage Taliban Talks

Karzai screening Kerry’s phone calls.

The U.S. is desperately working to salvage a plan to open negotiations on Afghanistan’s security after a meeting with the Taliban offended Afghan president Hamid Karzai, who now won’t answer phone calls from Secretary of State John Kerry. The U.S. had planned to begin peace talks with the Taliban as part of a deal to solidify security in Afghanistan after NATO troops leave in 2014. But Karzai took the initial American overture toward the Taliban—allowing it to open an embassy in Qatar—as an affront after the Taliban portrayed itself as Afghanistan’s legitimate government-in-exile. Karzai suspended the talks, creating a diplomatic headache.