The Latest: Afghanistan's Karzai meets senior faction leader

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghanistan's former president has met with a senior leader of a powerful Taliban faction who was once jailed and whose group has been listed by the U.S. as a terrorist network.

Former President Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah, a senior official in the ousted government met with Anas Haqqani as part of preliminary meetings that a spokesman for Karzai said would would facilitate eventual negotiations with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the top Taliban political leader.

The U.S. branded the Haqqani network a terrorist group in 2012, and its involvement in a future government could trigger international sanctions.

The Taliban have pledged to form an “inclusive, Islamic government,” although skeptics point to its past record of intolerance for those not adhering to its extreme interpretations of Islam.

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MORE ON THE CRISIS IN AFGHANISTAN:

— Taliban announce ‘amnesty,’ urge women to join government

— Taliban encounter Afghan cities remade in their absence

— US agencies scrub websites to protect Afghans left behind

— Taliban take over Afghanistan: What we know and what’s next

— Biden: Afghan chaos ‘gut-wrenching’ but stands by withdrawal

— Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefited Taliban

— Find more AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/afghanistan

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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

BEIJING — China says it is waiting for the establishment of an “open, inclusive, and widely representative” government in Afghanistan before it decides on the issue of recognition.

“If we are going to recognize a government, we will have to wait till the government is formed,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson...