The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has agreed to a UN request to host talks among Afghan factions on a political future for their country, an official of the Gulf Arab state said today.
"We welcome them whenever they are ready to come," the official said, confirming an Abu Dhabi television report that the country had agreed to host a meeting of Afghans in the next few days.
The official said details on the participants and the exact dates were still being finalised.
The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said earlier it was studying a Qatari proposal to host a meeting of Afghan factions under the umbrella of the 56-nation OIC in the capital Doha next week.
Diplomats say the meeting would aim to map out a political settlement following the end of five years of Taliban rule and the seizure of Kabul by the opposition Northern Alliance.