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Karzai offers Taliban olive branch

Monday, 1 February 2010

Afghan president Hamid Karzai appealed to Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons (AP)

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Afghanistan's president has appealed to Taliban fighters to lay down their weapons and accept Afghan laws as the government and its international allies pushed a programme to entice militants away from the insurgency.

President Hamid Karzai spoke days after he and Western backers agreed at a conference in London to create a more comprehensive programme to bring Taliban insurgents over to the government's side in order to reduce violence that has raged in recent years.

Incentives existed for years for the Taliban to stop fighting, but these have generally been ineffective, attracting only the lowest-level fighters with no guarantees they would not return to the insurgency or that promised aid would come through.

And despite incentives, the insurgency has expanded steadily over the past six years.

In 2004, Nato estimated that fewer than 400 Taliban were left in Afghanistan. By last year that figure had grown to nearly 25,000, with the latest estimates in early 2010 putting the number of insurgents at close to 30,000.

Mr Karzai stressed he plans to reconcile with Taliban leaders as much as they are willing, but he made clear his offer of reconciliation did not extend to anyone in al Qaida, saying there was no room in Afghanistan for terrorists. "We are trying our best to reach as high as possible to bring peace and security," Mr Karzai said in his first news conference since returning from London.

Mr Karzai has said previously he is willing to talk to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and welcome back any militants who are willing to recognise the Afghan constitution. However, the Taliban always set the withdrawal of international troops as a precondition for any negotiations.

Mr Karzai called that unrealistic, saying the Nato coalition should be expected to stay until they achieve their goal of removing al Qaida and other terrorist threats.

Afghanistan's international backers agreed in London to provide funding for a renewed effort to woo Taliban away from al Qaida and the insurgency, given the commitment of the Afghan government to institute a more comprehensive and thorough programme, including jobs and education.

The details will be worked out in a meeting of elders, clerics and other representatives to be held "very soon," Mr Karzai said.