US backing for Afghan council

The United States says it supports efforts to end the conflict in Afghanistan by setting up a grand council that unites all sectors of the country.

The State Department said after talks with a delegation of Afghanis involved in the process that Washington backed all efforts to establish a government representing the entire country.

It also urged the delegation to start talks with the Taleban movement that controls most of Afghanistan, and its opponents.

Taleban has, however, so far rejected the proposed council. The initiative, known as the Rome Process, was begun more than a year ago under the leadership of the country's deposed king, Zahir Shah.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service