The Afghan government is asking the United Nations to remove 50 Taliban members from a U.N. blacklist, in an effort to promote peace talks with insurgents and end the 10-year war.

Officials with the U.N. committee overseeing sanctions against al-Qaida and the Taliban say they are weighing the request and will make a decision in the coming weeks. The U.N. blacklist subjects Taliban members to an asset freeze and travel ban.

Peter Wittig, Germany's ambassador to the U.N. and chair of the U.N. sanctions committee, told reporters Tuesday in Kabul that any changes to the list would reflect the changing political developments in Afghanistan.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has set up a council to seek peace talks with members of the Taliban who renounce violence, accept the Afghan constitution and sever ties with al-Qaida.

There are more than 450 people on the U.N. committee's sanctions list, including roughly 140 with direct links to the Taliban.

Separately, police say the head of the provincial council in central Bamiyan province was abducted and killed. Jawad Zhowka's body was found Tuesday near a main road running through neighboring Parwan province.

The relatively peaceful Bamiyan province is slated to be one of seven areas to transition from foreign to Afghan security control in July of this year.