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Afghans say Taliban fighters could surrender
 Taliban fighters could abandon their insurgency in Afghanistan as a result of peace talks under way between local commanders and President Hamid Karzai's government, a provincial governor has said.
| Some of the could, I suppose. I doubt those in Peshawar and Quetta will... |
Three years after US-led forces invaded Afghanistan, Karzai and his US backers hope to coax lower-level Taliban fighters back to normal life, leaving senior commanders and al-Qaida leaders isolated. Tribal leaders and regional commanders are acting as intermediaries between the Taliban and Karzai's government in the southeastern provinces of Paktia, Khost and Paktika, said Paktia governor Assad Allah Wafa. "We have more than hundreds of Taliban who want to return to their normal lives in Khost, Paktia and Paktika provinces," Wafa said. In return, the tribal chiefs and local officials want the US ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad, to urge US forces not to harass Taliban members who quit the insurgency, he said. "The government is talking to them through tribal leaders and we are demanding Khalilzad use his influence and propose to the American military not to detain or harass those Taliban who plan to stop fighting the government," Wafa said. No Taliban official could immediately be contacted for comment, but Taliban spokesman Abdul Latifi Hakimi said earlier this week the group was committed to resisting Karzai's government and US and Nato troops in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred 2005-01-15 |
