KABUL, April 23 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior Taliban commander has laid down arms and surrendered to Afghan government in southeast Khost province, a local independent newspaper reported Saturday.

    "A Taliban's prominent figure Mufti Habiburahman who served as deputy governor of Paktia in Taliban regime voluntarily joined the peace process and surrendered to government in Khost province yesterday," Arman-e-Millie reported on its front page.

    The former Taliban official had refused to meet the press and said he wanted to resume his normal life alongside his fellow Afghans, the paper added.

    Since offering a general amnesty by President Hamid Karzai latelast year to armed opposition groups including Taliban, a large number of the militants including their seniors such as Mullah Amanullah have laid down their arms and reintegrated to their communities.

    Amanullah was one of the Taliban's top gunmen in south Afghanistan who surrendered to government in troubled Zabul province last month.

    Taliban's spokesman Mullah Abdul Latif Hakimi has rejected the reported surrender of Taliban operatives as unfounded and said no Taliban would give up resistance and bow before a US-installed regime in the country. Enditem