The Afghans are Stepping out on their own...

After having their Pakistani-Talibani-Connectioni kicked out from under them, the Afghanistanis have apparently turned their eye toward cheezing up to al-Qaida-linked groups.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met a senior delegation for peace talks with one of the main insurgent groups fighting against his government and foreign troops, officials said Monday.

Although the talks with delegates from the Hizb-i-Islami group appeared to be preliminary, it was Karzai's first confirmed direct contact with the faction and could signal prospects for a separate peace with a group that rivals the Taliban.

"I can confirm that a delegation of Hizb-i-Islami ... is in Kabul with a plan and has met with the president," said Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omer.

Hizb-i-Islami, which has longtime ties to al-Qaida, was founded by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former prime minister and rebel commander in the war against the Soviets in the 1980s.

A spokesman for Hezb-i-Islami said it was the first time the group had sent senior envoys to Kabul for peace talks. Haroun Zarghun, the group's spokesman in Pakistan, said the delegation is carrying a 15-point plan that calls for foreign forces to start pulling out in July — a full year ahead of President Barack Obama's desire to start withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011.

The plan also calls for the Afghan parliament to serve through December. After that, parliament would be replaced by an interim government, or shura, which would hold local and national elections within a year, according to the plan. Zarghun said a new Afghan constitution would be written, merging the current version with ones used earlier.

By: Brant