Elements of Taliban are 'ready' to talk peace, key Afghan negotiator says
'We are taking our first steps,' head of new peace council says


Afghan President Hamid Karzai, second left, prays with members of the Afghanistan's peace council, from left Burhanuddin Rabbani, Pir Sayed Ahmad Gailani, and Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf during the inaugural session in Kabul, Afghanistan.
msnbc.com staff and news service reports msnbc.com staff and news service reports
updated 2 hours 33 minutes ago 2010-10-14T10:57:10


A former Afghan president who heads a new peace council said Thursday that he's convinced the Taliban are ready to negotiate peace.

Burhanuddin Rabbani told reporters in Kabul that the Taliban have not completely rejected the idea of negotiating a nonmilitary resolution of the war.

"They have some conditions to start the negotiations process. It gives us hope that they want to talk and negotiate," Rabbani said.

"We are taking our first steps," he said. "I believe there are people among the Taliban that have a message that they want to talk. They are ready."

The Afghan government has acknowledged that it has been involved in reconciliation talks with the Taliban, but discussions between the two sides have been described as mostly informal and indirect message exchanges relying on mediators.



'Baseless propaganda'
The Afghan Taliban, meanwhile, have denied having discussions.

In a message posted on its website this week, the group said the notion of talks with the enemy was "baseless propaganda" and that negotiations would be a "waste of time."


One expert on Afghan affairs cautioned against expecting peace anytime soon.

"I don't think we can deduce from (Rabbani's) statement that there's some imminent breakthrough likely," said Professor Malcolm Chalmers, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a British defence and security think tank.

"People have been talking about the possibility of negotiating with elements of the Taliban for some time. There's a big difference between discussions and serious negotiations," he told msnbc.com.

"Everything I have heard would suggest people are putting out feelers and finding out who is interested in what, but on both sides — the different Taliban groups and the government — they are also trying to identify divisions and possible weaknesses," he said.

And the insurgents are not being forced to the negotiating table. While NATO's campaign was hurting the Taliban, especially in the south, insurgents were making gains in other parts of the country, Chalmers said.

Safe passage for Taliban
In Brussels on Wednesday, a senior NATO official confirmed that it has provided safe passage for top Taliban leaders to travel to Kabul for face-to-face negotiations with the Afghan government.

It was the most detailed indication so far of U.S. and NATO support of clandestine talks aimed at bringing an end to the 9-year-old war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to describe the subject publicly.

Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, a top adviser to Afghan President Hamid Karzai who also spoke with reporters, confirmed the contacts that were conducted with coalition support.

A former Afghan president who heads a new peace council said Thursday he's convinced the Taliban are ready to negotiate peace after nine years of war in Afghanistan. Full story


"There are people who have had contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban," Stanekzai said, declining to identify the players. "The elders of this country, the clerics of this country — they can mediate to form a bridge."

He said those who want to join to the peace process must be provided safety and security.

"The comings and goings are continuing," he said. "We are now at the beginning steps of our work."

Stanekzai said the Afghan government was getting strong support for the peace process from the international community, but that negotiations with the Taliban must be led by Afghans.


On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said his country would be part of the process.

"Look, nothing can happen without us because we are part of the solution. We are not part of the problem," Gilani said.

Stanekzai said he welcomes Pakistan's help in finding a peaceful resolution to the war, but that Afghanistan would not go through Pakistan to talk to the Taliban.

'World's most effective peacekeeper'
Rabbani's comments came as ministers met Thursday to chart NATO's course for the next decade.

On the eve of the meeting, a senior NATO official confirmed NATO forces in Afghanistan were facilitating contacts between senior Taliban officials and the Afghan government.

But officials said discussions were in their very early stages and no quick end to the nine-year-old conflict could be expected.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen wants input from foreign and defense ministers for a new NATO "Strategic Concept," or vision statement, to be agreed by leaders of the 28-nation alliance at a November 19-20 summit in Lisbon.


"NATO's core mission to protect the 900 million citizens of NATO countries from attack must never change, but it must be modern defense against modern threats," Rasmussen said.