Afghanistan peace talks held in Pakistan
(11 Jan 2016) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: NO ACCESS PAKISTAN PTV – NO ACCESS PAKISTAN Islamabad - 11 Jan 2016 ++4:3++ ++SHOTS 1-4 and 7-11 MUTE++ 1. Quadrilateral meeting between Pakistan, Afghanistan, China and US representatives 2. Chinese officials in meeting 3. Afghan officials in meeting 4. US officials in meeting 5. Wide of meeting 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on foreign affairs: "Today's meeting of the Quadrilateral Group is of great significance. The first and foremost task before the group is to define the overall direction of the reconciliation process along with goals and targets it would like to set with a view to creating a conducive environment for holding direct talks between the Afghan government and Taliban groups." 7. Afghan officials at meeting 8. US official at meeting 9. Chinese officials at meeting 10. Wide of Afghan officials 11. Wide of US officials 12. Pan of meeting STORYLINE: A key gathering opened on Monday in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad in which four major countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States - hope to lay the roadmap to peace for the war-shattered Afghan nation. The meeting comes as battlefield losses in Afghanistan are mounting and entire swaths of the country that cost hundreds of US-led coalition and Afghan military lives to secure slip back into Taliban hands. Taliban representatives are not invited to the talks, vowing to talk only to the US and not to the Afghan government. As the gathering got under way, host Pakistan - seen as key to bringing the warring Taliban factions to the table - cautioned of the difficulties ahead. Sartaj Aziz, adviser to the Pakistani prime minister on foreign affairs, warned against prematurely deciding which Taliban factions are ready to talk, urging instead "confidence building" measures to get even the recalcitrant Taliban to the negotiating table. But analysts and participants alike say that while there are four countries talking, much of the hope for progress toward peace rests with Pakistan - which is accused of harbouring some of the fiercest factions of the Taliban, including the Haqqani group, declared a "terrorist organisation" by the US. Pakistan says its influence over the Taliban is overrated. =========================================================== Clients are reminded: (i) to check the terms of their licence agreements for use of content outside news programming and that further advice and assistance can be obtained from the AP Archive on: Tel +44 (0) 20 7482 7482 Email: [email protected] (ii) they should check with the applicable collecting society in their Territory regarding the clearance of any sound recording or performance included within the AP Television News service (iii) they have editorial responsibility for the use of all and any content included within the AP Television News service and for libel, privacy, compliance and third party rights applicable to their Territory. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
