Taliban Foreign Minister Maulawi Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil arrived in Pakistan today, possibly indicating a division within the ruling Afghan movement, the United Arab Emirates official news agency said.
WAM quoted media sources in Islamabad as saying Muttawakil might represent separatists within the ranks of the Taliban after a dispute with the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.
The report could not be confirmed in Islamabad.
The UAE is one of three countries that previously recognised the Taliban government in Kabul, but it cut diplomatic ties after the Taliban failed to hand over Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, the prime suspect in the September 11 attacks on US cities.
Pakistan is now the only country to recognise the Taliban. The UAE news agency also said a representative of Afghanistan's former King Zahir Shah arrived in the Pakistani capital at the request of the Pakistani government.
WAM quoted the sources as saying that they believed this presence of the Afghan figures in Islamabad might be paving the way for setting up a transitional government in Afghanistan.
The agency said that this could in turn lead to establishing a consultative council and setting up a broad-based government that represents all the Afghan factions and ethnic groups.