amrullah saleh, welcome to hardtalk.khalilzad, the us envoy who's been in kabul in the last few days, has delivered the news that after 17 years of fighting, peace for the taliban might be in sight. you must be delighted. well, you are right. the demand for peace is in the veins of every afghan, but it is the modality of how we negotiate and also what sort of peace we achieve is controversial. do you agree with president ashraf ghani that the taliban could enter mainstream politics? absolutely. we have never opposed any group to become mainstream politics, regardless of what type of politics they pursue, as long as they don't resort to violence and intimidation. of course they are most welcome to become a mainstream political entity. it must be frustrating, though, for you, as a former directorate of the security agency, a former director—general of the national directorate of security, you were there for six years, i think, to know that last year, just hours before its leading members sat down for another day of talks w