KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan will accept a Taliban liaison office in Qatar to start peace talks but no foreign power can get involved in the process without its consent, the government's peace council said, as efforts gather pace to find a solution to the decade-long war. 
 
 Afghanistan's High Peace Council, in a note to foreign missions, has set out ground rules for engaging the Taliban after Kabul grew concerned that the United States and Qatar, helped by Germany, had secretly agreed with the Taliban to open an office in the Qatari capital, Doha. 
 
 U.S. officials have held about half a dozen meetings with their insurgent contacts, mostly in Germany and Doha with representatives of Mullah Omar, leader of the Taliban's Quetta Shura, this year to prepare the way for face-to-face talks between the group and the Afghan government. 
 
 A representative office for the group is considered the starting point for such talks and Doha has in the past served as a meeting ground for initial contacts. 
 
 But the Afghan peace commission which has suffered a series of setbacks including the assassination of its head in September said that negotiations with the Taliban could only begin after they stopped violence against civilians, cut ties to al Qaeda, and accepted the Afghan constitution which guarantees civil rights and liberties, including rights for women. 
 
 The council, according to a copy of the 11-point note made available to Reuters, also said any peace process with the Taliban would have to have the support of Pakistan since members of the insurgent group were based there. 
 
 "The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is in agreement regarding the opening of an office for the armed opposition, but only to move forward the peace process and conduct negotiations," the council said. 
 
 The government would prefer such an office in either Saudi Arabia or Turkey, both of which it is close to, but was not averse to Doha as long as the authority of the Afghan state was not eroded and the office was only established for talks, officials said. 
 
 "We are saying Saudi or Turkey are preferable, we are not saying it has to be there only. The only condition is it should be in an Islamic country," said a government official. 
 
 President Hamid Karzai's administration recalled its ambassador from Doha last week, apparently angry that it had been kept in the dark about the latest round of contacts with the insurgent group. 
 
 Officials said Kabul was also deeply concerned about reports that the United States was considering the transfer of a small number of Afghan prisoners from Guantanamo Bay military prison to Doha as a prelude to the talks. 
 
 "We are a sovereign country, we have laws. How can you transfer our prisoners from one country to another. Already it's a violation to have them in Guantanamo Bay," the official said. 
 
 The Afghan government wanted the prisoners to be returned to its custody, the official said. 
 
 Reuters reported this month that the United States was considering the transfer of an unspecified number of Taliban prisoners from Guantanamo Bay into Afghan government custody as part of accelerating, high-stakes diplomacy. 
 
 "We have no problem with this. In fact we have been demanding this for a while. These are Afghan prisoners," said the official, who declined to be identified. 
 
 The tension between the Karzai administration and the United States over engaging the Taliban underscores the challenges of seeking a political settlement as the West prepares to withdraw most combat troops from the country by 2014. 
 
 Efforts to engage the insurgent group have faced a string of setbacks, the most recent being the assassination of the head of the peace council and former president, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September at the hands of a suicide bomber who pretended to be a Taliban emissary. 
 
 HARDENING OF POSITIONS 
 
 It led to a hardening of positions with Karzai saying the government could not talk to suicide bombers and that there should be an address for the Taliban so that negotiators know they are talking to the right representatives. 
 
 "We are committed to the reconciliation process, the experience of the last 10 years shows no military solution is possible. Talking to the armed opposition is the key in this regard," said presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi. 
 
 White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said the United States backed steps toward reconciliation that bring Afghans together and allow insurgents eschewing violence and abiding by the Afghan constitution to come off the battlefield. 
 
 "We will join initiatives that support Afghan-led reconciliation. Pakistan also has an important role to play in supporting the Afghan-led process," she said. 
 
 A State Department official added Washington will continue to work very closely with Kabul authorities to draw in Taliban fighters who break from al Qaeda terrorists and agree to respect the rights of Afghans, including women and ethnic minorities. 
 
 "We believe it is in the interests of both of our countries, as well as the region as whole, to work together to support a stable, secure, and prosperous Afghanistan inside a stable, secure, and prosperous region," the State Department official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. 
 
 The Afghan peace council, laying down the markers for engagement with the Taliban, said well known figures from both the Taliban and the government had to be involved in talks. 
 
 It said that "before any negotiations can take place, violence against Afghan people must stop and that the armed opposition must cut ties to al Qaeda and other terrorist groups". 
 
 It also said that the Taliban must accept the constitution and honor the gains made in the last 10 years since they were ousted from power, conditions that the Taliban have shown no sign of accepting. 
 
 The Taliban do not accept the constitution and have vowed to carry on fighting until all foreign troops have left the country. 
 
 The peace council said Pakistani support was necessary for talks to take place, another condition that makes the task harder because of fraught ties between the United States and Pakistan which fears it is being shut out of the process. 
 
 Opening a Taliban office in a third country is seen as a way to create distance from Pakistan which has longstanding ties to the insurgent group. 
 
 But the government official said he did not think the peace council had laid down such tough conditions that the talks would fail even before they started. 
 
 "We don't think it's a deal breaker. We are quite optimistic," he said. 
 
 (Additional reporting by Laura MacInnis in Honolulu and Alister Bull and Jim Wolf in Washington; Editing by Robert Birsel, Ed Lane and Sandra Maler) ||||| Image caption Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem, second right, opened the Doha office 
 
 The US is to open direct peace talks with the Taliban, senior White House officials have announced. 
 
 The first meeting is due to take place in the coming days in Doha, Qatar, where the Taliban have just opened their first official overseas office. 
 
 Afghan President Hamid Karzai said his government was also sending delegates to Qatar to talk to the Taliban. 
 
 The announcement came on the day Nato handed over security for the whole of Afghanistan to government forces. 
 
 Pakistan, which was involved in background talks for the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, welcomed the announcement. 
 
 US officials said prisoner exchanges would be one topic for discussion with the Taliban, but the first weeks will mainly be used to explore each other's agendas. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption President Obama: "We don't anticipate this process will be easy or quick, but we must pursue it in parallel with our military approach" 
 
 However, the talks are on condition that the Taliban renounce violence, break ties with al-Qaeda and respect the Afghan constitution - including the rights of women and minorities. 
 
 US officials told reporters the first formal meeting between US and Taliban representatives was expected to take place in Doha next week, with talks between President Karzai's High Peace Council and the Taliban due a few days after that. 
 
 The level of trust between the Afghan government and the Taliban is described as "low". 
 
 In the past, the Taliban have always refused to meet President Karzai or his government, dismissing them as puppets of Washington. 
 
 Masoom Stanekzai, secretary of the High Peace Council, would not give a specific date for their talks but said they would take place "within days". 
 
 Analysis There have been three distinct stages in the life of the Taliban. First they came as a conquering army that swept up from the south in the mid-1990s in reaction to the criminality and corruption of the Afghan civil war. Secondly came the austere Islamist government from 1996-2001, oppressive to women and with a singular view of the outside world. They were defeated in the war after 9/11. But since reorganising six years ago they insist that they are different - in favour of education even for girls. While fighting an insurgency to end foreign occupation, it is this group who have a political wing, who are keen to talk, and hinting that they would be willing to sever their links with al-Qaeda. But while the Taliban may have opened a political office, there is no guarantee that the men who are still fighting in the field will accept the results of talks. 
 
 He told the BBC it was important that all sides should feel "confident and comfortable" at the beginning of the process. 
 
 "Eventually the talks should take place on Afghan soil. This is an Afghan issue. No-one other than Afghans can decide," he said. 
 
 US officials stressed that this was the first step on a very long road, adding that there was no guarantee of success. 
 
 After opening the "political bureau" in Doha alongside Qatari officials, Taliban representative Mohammed Naeem told reporters the group wanted good relations with Afghanistan's neighbours. 
 
 A Taliban statement said: "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan doesn't want any threats from Afghanistan soil to other countries, and neither permits anyone to threaten other countries using Afghanistan soil. 
 
 "We support a political and peaceful solution that ends Afghanistan's occupation, and guarantees the Islamic system and nationwide security." 
 
 The BBC's Paul Adams in Washington says these were key statements that US officials were expecting to hear. 
 
 Senior administrators describe it as a milestone on the road to peace. Others will feel it is nearer to treason 
 
 Welcoming the prospect of direct talks between the US and Taliban, the Pakistani foreign ministry said that Islamabad was "ready to continue to facilitate the process to achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan in accordance with the wishes of the Afghan people". 
 
 Pakistan was one of the main backers of the Taliban when the movement swept to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s. 
 
 Correspondents say the Taliban is still thought to rely heavily on certain elements in Pakistan and that Pakistani co-operation will be crucial in convincing the Taliban to reach an agreement with the Afghan government. 
 
 Security handover 
 
 A US official said the militant Haqqani network would also be represented by the Taliban in Doha. 
 
 However, the senior US and Nato commander in Afghanistan, Gen Joseph Dunford, cast doubt on whether the group would make peace. 
 
 Speaking by phone from Kabul he told reporters at the Pentagon: "All I've seen of the Haqqani would make it hard for me to believe they were reconcilable." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Former special envoy: US-Taliban talks marks "beginning of a long road" 
 
 In Afghanistan itself on Tuesday, Nato handed over security for the whole of the country to the government for the first time since the Taliban were ousted in 2001. 
 
 At a ceremony in Kabul, President Hamid Karzai said that from Wednesday "our own security and military forces will lead all the security activities". 
 
 The ceremony saw the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) hand over control of the last 95 districts in a transition process that began in 2011. 
 
 International troops are to remain in Afghanistan until the end of 2014, providing military back-up when needed. 
 
 President Karzai has expressed anger at previous US and Qatari efforts to kick-start the peace process without properly consulting his government, reports the BBC's Bilal Sarwary from Kabul. 
 
 There is also concern within the presidential palace that the Taliban will use the office in Qatar to raise funds, adds our correspondent. 
 
 The US has previously tried to negotiate with the Taliban, but never held direct talks. 
 
 In March 2012 the Taliban said it had suspended preliminary negotiations with Washington, citing US efforts to involve the Afghan government as a key stumbling block. 
 
 The Taliban set up a diplomatic presence in Qatar in January 2012 and US officials held preliminary discussions there. ||||| Image caption President Karzai was angered by the Qatar process 
 
 The Afghan government is planning to meet the Taliban in Saudi Arabia in an attempt to jump-start peace talks, the BBC has learned. 
 
 The landmark meeting will come in the coming weeks, before the establishment of a Taliban office in Qatar, according to Western and Afghan officials. 
 
 The Taliban have refused previously to recognise the government of President Hamid Karzai. 
 
 Senior officials in Kabul say the Taliban have agreed to the meeting. 
 
 The militant group, contacted by the BBC, refused to comment on the move. 
 
 The Taliban have so far insisted they would only talk to the US and other allies of the Kabul government. 
 
 A senior Afghan government official told the BBC: "Even if the Taliban office is established in Qatar, we will obviously pursue other efforts in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Turkey." 
 
 He continued: "Saudi Arabia has played an important role in the past. We value that and look forward to continued support and contact with Saudi Arabia in continuing the peace process." 
 
 President Karzai was angered by US and Qatari efforts to kick-start the peace process without consulting his government fully. 
 
 In December, he recalled the Afghan ambassador in Doha. A delegation from Qatar is expected to arrive in Kabul shortly in an attempt to mend fences. 
 
 Image caption US aid worker Warren Weinstein was abducted in Lahore last year 
 
 Prisoner exchange? 
 
 As reported by the UK's Daily Telegraph newspaper, a number of Taliban officials have already arrived in Qatar. 
 
 The delegation includes Sher Mohammad Stanakzai, the Taliban's former deputy foreign minister and Shabudin Dilawari, a former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, and Tayeb Agha, a close aide of Taliban leader Mullah Omar. 
 
 However, details for the establishment of a permanent office have still to be finalised. 
 
 Michael Semple, a former EU envoy to Kabul who was expelled in 2007 for talking to the Taliban, told BBC radio that the Taliban were "confused by the lack of coherence" between the Afghan government and the international community. 
 
 "There's a risk that the Taliban sit there and think there's some kind of divide-and-rule going on from the international side... and that actually no negotiated deal is possible and that they are far better off maintaining the coherence of their leadership which at the moment, frankly, looks rather more coherent and united than anything on either the Afghan government or international side," he said. 
 
 There are worries that the Taliban are using the political office to raise funds, and as a ploy to buy time before foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan at the end of 2014. 
 
 There is also concern in the presidential palace in Kabul that those negotiations will be primarily focused on an exchange of prisoners between the US and the Taliban. 
 
 Five senior insurgents are being held at the US detention facility in Guantanamo Bay. 
 
 America wants the return of three of its citizens held by the Taliban and its affiliates. 
 
 They include a captured soldier, Specialist Bowe Bergdahl, and kidnapped US aid worker Warren Weinstein. 
 
 All are being held in the town of Miranshah in the troubled Pakistani province of North Waziristan. 
 
 Meanwhile, a senior member of Afghanistan's High Peace Council remains in the hands of Taliban fighters in Nuristan, in the remote east of Afghanistan. 
 
 Shafiullah Shafi is considered an influential tribal elder - crucial in mediating between local Taliban commanders and fighters. 
 
 Shuttle diplomacy 
 
 Image caption Afghan troops are gradually taking over security duties as foreign forces prepare to leave 
 
 There are divisions within the Taliban leadership, with one faction continuing to insist that all foreign troops must leave before any talks take place. 
 
 Messages have been sent to the Taliban commanders from the Quetta Shura, the Taliban's leadership council, warning against dissent. 
 
 Separately, President Karzai's government is attempting to improve bilateral relations with neighbouring Pakistan. 
 
 Three of the main insurgent groups fighting in Afghanistan are based in Pakistan. Islamabad's support will be vital in any credible peace process. 
 
 Pakistan's Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, will visit Kabul soon. 
 
 The Afghan government is hopeful that Pakistan will hand over two Taliban leaders from the east of the country, Mawli Kabir and Mawli Sadrazam, as a show of Pakistan's support for the peace process. 
 
 The government also wants Pakistan to facilitate direct access to the Quetta Shura. 
 
 America's special envoy to region, Marc Grossman, has been shuttling between key countries in the region. 
 
 In Kabul, he said the Taliban must renounce support for international terrorist groups and be prepared to engage with the government if peace talks were to get under way. 
 
 Western diplomats in Kabul have warned though that any eventual political settlement is years away, and that there is little prospect that fighting, which has claimed thousands of Afghan and foreign lives, will end anytime soon. 
 
 Follow Quentin Sommerville on Twitter @mrsommerville
– Afghanistan today told foreign powers to take a back seat in talks with the Taliban and let Kabul lead the way, Reuters reports. Afghanistan's High Peace Council put its foot down after the US, Qatar, and Germany secretly set up an office for the Taliban in Qatar to continue negotiations. “Afghans must be in the lead in the talks,” an Afghan rep tells the AP. Afghanistan also wants the Taliban to sever ties with al-Qaeda and enact human rights reforms before talks continue. The council will consent to the Qatar office, however, and approves the US giving up Guantanamo Bay prisoners for Taliban concessions. "In fact we have been demanding this for a while," an Afghan official says. "These are Afghan prisoners." The council also wants Pakistan's support because members of the Taliban reside there. The tensions between Washington and President Hamid Karzai highlight the difficulty of reaching a settlement with the Taliban before the West is scheduled to pull out most of its troops in 2014.