The little-known story of secret negotiations between the Taliban and the US to a build a pipeline through Afghanistan.

Al Jazeera: Unocal’s plans were to build two pipelines, one for oil and the other for gas, travelling through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India – a distance of well over 1,700km. Afghanistan was set to earn $400m per year in transportation costs, which would significantly enrich Afghan government’s income at that time. “Taliban wanted the reconstruction of the country, so that’s why we were interested in working with Unocal,” says Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil, former Taliban foreign secretary. Click here to read more (external link).