TOKYO: A Taliban representative on Wednesday joined an Afghan government official for a peace conference hosted by an elite university in Japan, an academic said.

In a rare joint appearance, Din Muhammad, a member of the Taliban's political council, was invited by the private Doshisha University to a “peace-building” forum, along with Masoom Stanekzai, internal security adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

They and other Afghans were in Japan to discuss what steps need to be taken to build peace and bring reconciliation in the war-torn nation, the forum's organiser said.—AFP