West Trying to Entice Former Taliban Officials

Five former Taliban leaders have been removed from the United Nations sanctions list ahead of Thursday’s key international conference in London that is expected to focus on a plan to persuade Islamic militants to betray their people and support the Western powers who currently occupy Afghanistan. The Western-backed President Hamid Karzai has been pressing for the removal of certain Taliban figures from the list, which imposes punitive measures such as a travel ban and an assets freeze, as part of reconciliation efforts to woo the former terrorists to his side.