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Reconciliation with Taliban Unlikely: Gates
[Quqnoos] US Defense Secretary said it was unlikely Taliban leaders would reconcile with Kabul government.Defence Secretary Robert Gates said the lower ranking insurgents might be open to making peace with the Afghan government. Gates welcomed plans announced on Sunday by President Hamid Karzai's government to launch a new bid at making peace with Islamist militants. The Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Omar and other high ranking commanders would be reluctant to lay down their arms until circumstances changed on the battlefield. "Just speaking personally, I'd be very surprised to see a reconciliation with Mullah Omar," Gates told reporters aboard his plane en route to India. "I think it's our view that until the Taliban leadership sees a change in the momentum and begins to see that they are not going to win, that the likelihood of reconciliation at senior levels is not terribly great," he said. But he added that "we may see a real growth of reintegration at the local district and provincial level" as insurgents "come under pressure and know they're not going to win." Gates and top commanders have said previously that reconciliation efforts stood little chance of success without halting the momentum of the insurgents. Karzai's new reconciliation plan will be announced ahead of a major international conference on Afghanistan due in London on January 28, his spokesman Waheed Omar said on Sunday. The US government has shown full support to President Karzai reintegration initiative. Karzai has long called for peace talks with the Taliban -- even offering government posts to its leaders -- but the insurgents have refused dialogue until the withdrawal of Nato-led troops on which Kabul relies for security. Omar said the new plan would reach out to militants in all ranks, from the political leadership to fighters on the ground. Posted by: Fred 2010-01-20 |
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