Karzai suggests talks with Pakistan instead of Taliban

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Karzai suggests talks with Pakistan instead of Taliban

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Afghan President said that Taliban leadership was not independent enough to make its own decisions.

29 September,2011 03:29 am

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, long a staunch advocate of peace talks with the Taliban, on Wednesday questioned whether the insurgent group was able to seek a political settlement and blamed Pakistan for fomenting instability.The Afghan president had met with Afghanistans political and religious elite to discuss the future of peace negotiations after the assassination last week of the governments top peace envoy, former President Burhanuddin Rabbani.Rabbanis killer was a suicide bomber posing as a reconciliation envoy sent by the Talibans leadership council, and Karzais response to the attack marked an apparent shift in stance from a leader who when pushing for negotiations has described the Taliban as errant brothers.Karzai took a swipe at neighboring Pakistan, saying it was clear the Taliban leadership was not independent enough to make its own decisions about how it conducted the war, and suggesting talks with Islamabad instead.During our three-year efforts for peace, the Taliban has martyred our religious ulema (leaders), tribal elders, women, children, old and young, Karzai was quoted as saying in a statement issued by his office.By killing Rabbani, they showed they are not able to take decisions. Now, the question is (should we seek) peace with who, with which people?The meeting included tribal elders, legislative chairmen, cabinet ministers, former mujahideen commanders and his two vice-presidents, the statement added.The death of Rabbani, the most prominent surviving leader of the ethnic Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance of fighters and politicians, had raised concerns that his assassination would not only scuttle the peace process but exacerbate ethnic rifts among Afghans fighting the Taliban.Hundreds of Rabbanis supporters protested in Kabul on Tuesday against his killing, chanting death to Pakistan, death to the Taliban and demanding the government scrap plans to hold dialogue with the insurgents.Rabbani was chairman of the High Peace Council, formed by Karzai in October last year to reach out to the Taliban.Although the Council was considered more an official endorsement of negotiations than a real body for discussions, contacts continued through other channels, often involving foreign countries with a stake in Afghanistans future.Karzai announced in June that the United States had made contact with the Taliban but had yet to reach a stage where the government and insurgents were meeting.