Karzai conforms “peace talks with the Taliban have been started”….

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said that peace talks with the Taliban have been started.

 This is the first time that Afghan president admitted to contacts between U.S. government and Taliban militants in Afghanistan
 "Peace talks are going on with the Taliban.

The foreign military and especially the United States itself is going ahead with these negotiations," Karzai said in a speech in Kabul.
 The U.S. Embassy in Kabul declined immediate comment. However, US Defence Secretary Roberts Gates did not confirm that the talks were underway with the Taliban.
 According to a Western Diplomat, there have been months of preliminary talks between the two sides. The efforts were on to contact Taliban, he added.