Dr Ashraf Ghani, the former finance minister of Afghanistan, has told Al Jazeera that reconciliation talks with the Taliban are under way.

Ghani, currently a senior fellow for the Brookings Institution in Washington, said Saudi Arabia has been active in the mediation.

"There are people [doing] mediation in the of kingdom of Saudi Arabia and his majesty the King of Saudi Arabia has been involved and others have been involved," he said.

(30 Jan 2010)