Karzai's plan to court Taleban

Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to ask the United Nations to remove as many as 50 former Taleban members from a UN blacklist, the Washington Post reports.

The request to remove about a quarter of the 137 names on the list is aimed at advancing reconciliation talks with insurgents, the report says, citing a senior Afghan official.

At least five are former Taleban officials who now serve in Parliament or privately mediate between the Government and the insurgents.