Saudi Crown Prince likely to meet Taliban leaders in Pakistan

Informed Pakistani officials have told Reuters that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will likely meet with the Taliban leaders in Pakistan as part of the ongoing efforts to broke an end to the 17-year old long in Afghanistan.
Two senior Pakistani officials said the crown prince was likely to meet Afghan Taliban representatives in Islamabad.
The Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman is due to arrive in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan on Sunday.
The Taliban group had earlier confirmed that a meeting regarding peace efforts would be organized in Islamabad based on formal invitation of the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The group in a statement said Thursday that the meeting would be organized on 18th of February and would be attended by the U.S. envoy for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad as well.
This comes as efforts are underway to launch direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban group to find a political solution to the ongoing conflict in the country but the Taliban leaders have so far refrained from direct talks with the Afghan officials.