News
Sunday, June 19, 2011
US holding talks with Taliban, says Karzai
* Afghan president says push towards peace talks had not yet reached a stage where govt and Taliban were meeting, but their representatives were in touch
KABUL: The United States is holding talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday, in the first official confirmation of such contacts after nearly 10 years of war.
Although diplomats and officials say the talks are at a very early stage, Karzai’s remarks highlight the increasing focus on finding a political settlement in Afghanistan as foreign combat troops prepare to pull out by 2014.
“Talks with the Taliban have started... the talks are going on well,” Karzai said, addressing a conference in Kabul. He, however, said that an Afghan push towards peace talks had not yet reached a stage where the government and insurgents were meeting, but their representatives had been in touch.
“Also foreign forces, especially the United States, are carrying out the talks themselves.” Afghan attempts to pursue talks with the Taliban have been public for months.
Karzai last year set up a High Council for Peace to look at the issue, which visited neighbouring Pakistan – seen as key to establishing communication channels – last week.
But Western officials are more tight-lipped about any conciliatory moves from their side. The US embassy in Kabul did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Karzai’s remarks.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this year called on Taliban members to split from al Qaeda, renounce violence and accept the constitution so they can be re-integrated into society. And US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on a visit to Kabul this month that there could be talks with the Taliban by the end of the year if foreign troops make sufficient gains.
The State Department, on Saturday, declined to say whether the United States was in talks with the Taliban, as Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced. It did, however, acknowledge a “broad range of contacts” in support of reconciliation efforts to help end a nearly decade-long war. agenciesCourtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk