Peace talks with Taliban yet to begin: US

The United States has cautioned it is unlikely that the proposed peace talks with the Taliban will begin anytime soon given the lack of clarity over whether the militant group actually intends to engage in dialogue.

Marc Grossman, the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, said in Kabul that there would be no peace talks with the Taliban this week and that there was a long way to  go before the two sides come to the negotiating table.

According to a New York Times report, Grossman said Qatar still needs to talk to the Afghans about the proposed Taliban office, the United States needs to talk to Pakistan and the Taliban still needs to clarify whether they actually intend to engage in peace talks.

Grossman was scheduled to travel to Pakistan, which rejected the special envoy's request to visit the country.

"There really can't be a comprehensive peace process unless Pakistan is part of it," Grossman added.

"I would be happy to meet them at any time or any place." Grossman was in Kabul where he met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. His next stop is Qatar, where the Taliban have said they will open a political office.

"The peace process is a comprehensive and large and complicated set of issues," Grossman said, adding that "Only Afghans can decide the future of Afghanistan."

The American envoy emphasised that the Taliban have not explicitly said that they would participate in peace talks.

"While they have enthusiastically and publicly endorsed opening an office in Qatar, they have yet to clarify that it would be used for peace talks rather than, as some have feared, to enhance their international prestige while they wait out the American military  withdrawal in 2014," the NYT  report said.

Grossman said the Taliban would also have to publicly renounce their links with international terrorists before talks could begin.

The Taliban have said opening an office in Qatar would be conditional upon the United States releasing Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba.

Grossman said the US has not made any decision about releasing prisoners.

"This is an issue in the United States of law, something on which we would want to consult our Congress," he said. "We have not made any decisions on this."