Complex Taliban Ruse Raised Hopes for Peace As Cover for Assassin.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In his first public appearance since rushing back to Afghanistan after the assassination of the country's leading peace broker, a solemn President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that the Taliban had gained access to their target by wooing senior leaders with an audio CD suggesting that peace was within reach. Mr. Karzai's statement and an account from a former Taliban member who helped bring the bomber to the peace broker, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president who led the country's High Peace Council, painted a picture of a dark and complex plot that unfolded over four months to enable the assassin to move in on his target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]