The United States dismissed Wednesday reports in a section of the Middle East media that representatives of Richard Holbrooke, President Barack Obama's Special Envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, recently met with leaders of the Afghan Taliban and other militant organizations on the formation of a national government in a post-U.S. withdrawal scenario from that war-ravaged southwest Asian nation.
"Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (Richard Holbrooke) did not meet with Taliban leaders. The two individuals mentioned in recent news articles do not represent SRAP in anyway," a State Department official said.
He was responding to reports in a section of the Middle Eastern media that Michael Simbal of Holland and George Daxoin of the U.K., representing Holbrooke, held meetings with these militant groups in Islamabad and Peshawar August 17 and 21.
The reports said the meetings were arranged by former ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mehmood and the then military attaché Brigadier Saad Muhammad, both of whom also attended the meetings.
Both Simbal and Daxoin are also reported to have held meetings with leaders of Hizb-i-Islami, Jamaat-ud-Dawa for Quran and Sunnah alias Salfi Taliban.
The reports added Maulvi Muhammad Aslam Haqqani, Secretary of the Ministry of Hajj and Aukaf in the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan, and Maulvi Gul Ahmad Khan represented the Afghan Taliban.
Hizb-e-Islami was represented by Dr. Ghairat Baheer, son-in-law of Gul Badin Hekmatyar, the Ameer of the organization, while Maulvi Ata-Ullah and Engineer Abid Khan were present on behalf of Jamaat-ud-Dawa for Quran and Sunnah Assalfia.
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