The U.S. Special Adviser for Afghanistan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad met with the former prominent Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rasool Sayaf to discuss prospects for Afghan peace, Khaama News Agency reported.
Khaama citing sources close to Sayyaf revealed that the two sides held talks regarding the current situation of Afghanistan, specifically focusing on prospects for the revival of Afghan reconciliation process.
Mr. Khalilzad had earlier met with Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and other senior government officials.
Ustad Abdul Rab Rasool Sayaf was the head of mujahideen faction Islamic Union for the Liberation of Afghanistan, which waged war against Afghan government in 1980s.
Sayyaf is considered the first host of Osama Bin Laden in Afghanistan, after Laden’s 1996 expulsion from Sudan. He is also accused of assisting the two Al-Qaeda assassins that killed Northern Alliance leader Ahmad Shah Massound in 2001.
However Sayyaf joined mainstream politics in 2005.