Possible talks with Afghan insurgents are closer

September 5, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

KABUL

In a further step toward reconciling with insurgents, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday he soon will name the members of a council tasked with pursuing peace talks with rebels willing to break with al-Qaida and recognize the government in Kabul.

Karzai’s announcement was given added poignancy by comments from the outgoing deputy commander of NATO forces in the country that commanders promised too much when they predicted quick success taking the key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter.

While British Lt. Gen. Nick Parker now sees signs of a turnaround in the turbulent area, he said the military will be more restrained in forecasting success in the future.

The formation of the High Peace Council was approved in June at a national peace conference in Kabul, and Karzai’s statement that its membership would be announced next week marks a “significant step toward peace talks,” according to a statement issued by Karzai’s office.

It said members will include former Taliban, jihadi leaders, leading figures in Afghan society and women, but gave no other details. They will be prepared to negotiate with insurgents who renounce violence, honor the Afghan constitution, and sever ties with terrorist networks.

The Taliban have so far rejected peace talks while foreign troops remain in the country. Talks that took place in Kabul and the Maldives with an insurgent group led by ex-Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar produced no breakthrough.

Still, Karzai hopes the reconciliation process will help render a split in the Taliban between its hard-core members — who have shown no appetite for compromise — and those willing to consider abandoning the insurgency.

On Saturday, an attack in the northern province of Kunduz killed seven people, including four policemen, and wounded 16 people, provincial spokesman Mabubullah Sayedi said.

Also on Saturday, an American service member was killed in a bombing in southern Afghanistan, U.S. officials said. No further details were released.

Two rockets were fired Saturday in the northwestern city of Herat, police said. There were no casualties.

At least three people also were killed and 11 wounded in a suicide car bomb attack on a U.S. Army convoy in the insurgent hotbed of Kandahar, according to hospitals.