Al Jazeera has learnt that a plan is being considered to pay up to $1bn to Taliban fighters to persuade them to lay down their arms.In advance of an international conference in London to discuss Afghanistan’s future on Thursday, Japan, the United States and Britain are said to be leading the proposal.

ISTANBUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he will press for Taliban names to be removed from a UN blacklist, as peace overtures intensified heading into a London conference.

MIRAMSHAH: A suspected US drone has crashed in North Waziristan, sources said Sunday.

TEHRAN: Seven people were killed and another 12 injured on Saturday when a train travelling from the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad to Tehran derailed, an official told state-run television.

ISLAMABAD – Angry with the Obama administration’s position on arch-rival India, Pakistan’s Army has rejected a US request to launch a new offensive against Taliban in the northern tribal belt.

One attack took place near the presidential palace where Karzai was swearing in cabinet ministers [AFP]

On Thursday, the rumours circulated widely that the Americans had got their man – the leader of Pakistan Taliban had been killed in a drone attack. From Peshawar to Islamabad, officials speculated Hakimullah Mehsud was dead.

Kabul – The United States rules out reconciliation between Taliban leaders and the West-backed Kabul government, a day after the militant group jolted the Afghan capital, reported The New York Times on Tuesday, January 19.