KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai left on Tuesday for talks in Brussels with top US and Pakistani officials aimed at reviving faltering efforts to bring peace to his country.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will host Wednesday's talks between Karzai and Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani, considered the most powerful man in the country, along with other senior officials on both sides.
Kerry said on Monday the aim was to "try to talk about how we can advance this process in the simplest, most cooperative, most cogent way" to satisfy Pakistan's and Afghanistan's interests and end up with "a stable and peaceful Afghanistan".
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul, strained for years, appeared to make headway earlier in the year but have once again nosedived. The Taliban still refuse in public to negotiate with Karzai's government.
"Pakistan has not taken practical measures towards the Afghan peace process so far. Afghans are running out of patience," Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi said Monday.
The Pakistani foreign ministry said Monday it "remains committed to continue its positive and constructive role towards a durable peace in Afghanistan".
Relations had improved between the countries, building up to a three-way summit hosted by Britain in February to try to find an end to the war.
Pakistan has released at least 26 Afghan Taliban prisoners in recent months -- a move that Kabul welcomed in the hope that they could help persuade the Taliban to enter into peace talks.
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