Jun 18, 2013 03:15 PM EDT By Russell Westerholm, UniversityHerald Reporter

The United States and the Taliban could meet later this week to begin peace negotiations along with the Afghan government, the New York Times reported.

Taliban officials said on Tuesday that they were ready to begin peace negotiations with the Afghan government after 12 years of war. U.S. officials said they would meet with the Taliban in Qatar later this week to begin the talks.

The conflict began in 2001 when American forces moved into Afghanistan to remove Al Qaeda. If the talks do begin, as they seemingly will, it will be the first time in the 12-year conflict that the antagonists of the Afghan War will have decided to talk peace.

Mohammed Naim, a Taliban spokesman, announced during a televised speech for the opening of a police station in Doha, the capital of Qatar, said their political and military goals are "limited to Afghanistan" and they do not wish to "harm other countries."

Obama administration officials were encouraged by two messages delivered in the speech. One: that Afghanistan should not be associated with the kind of acts of terror caused by Al Qaeda while the country's shelter. Two: the Taliban is committed to finding a peaceful solution to the war.

"Together, they fulfill the requirement for the Taliban to open a political office in Doha for the purposes of negotiation with the Afghan government," a senior Obama administrator said.

At a summit meeting in Northern Ireland with President François Hollande of France, President Barack Obama said the announcement was "an important first step toward reconciliation."

But "it is a very early step," Obama said. "We anticipate there will be a lot of bumps in the road."

An official in the administration of Afghani President Hamid Karzai said the talks will likely progress slowly and may result in nothing.

"There is no guarantee that this will happen quickly, if at all," the official said.

Still, President Karzai said in a news conference in Kabul that the people of Afghanistan want peace.

"Peace is the desire of the people of Afghanistan," Karzai said. "Peace is a hope that the people of Afghanistan make sacrifices for every day."

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