KABUL: A top Taleban leader yesterday rejected an offer from Afghan President Hamid Karzai of safe passage for insurgent leaders who wanted to talk peace.
Karzai, back from a trip to Britain and the United States, said on Sunday he would guarantee the safety of Taleban leader Mullah Omar if he was prepared to negotiate.
With the insurgency intensifying seven years after the Taleban were forced from power, the possibility of talks with the group’s more moderate leaders is increasingly being considered, both in Afghanistan and among its Western allies. The Afghan government says it is willing to talk to anyone who recognizes the constitution.
The Taleban have ruled out any talks as long as foreign troops remain in Afghanistan. Karzai said on Sunday that condition was unacceptable.
Mullah Brother, deputy leader of the Taleban, rejected Karzai’s offer of safe passage and again said foreign troops had to leave before negotiations could start. “As long as foreign occupiers remain in Afghanistan, we aren’t ready for talks because they hold the power and talks won’t bear fruit ... The problems in Afghanistan are because of them,” he said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
“We are safe in Afghanistan and we don’t need Karzai’s offer of safety ... It is Karzai who needs safety.”
Violence in Afghanistan has surged over the past two years, raising doubts about prospects for the country and Western efforts to establish peace and build a stable state.
Some 70,000 foreign troops, half of them American, are struggling against the Taleban, whose influence, and attacks, are spreading in the south, east and west.
