Afghanistan

Engaging with the Taliban

At an international conference in London in January, President Hamid Karzai said he would reach out to peace-willing Taliban. Western allies pledged support to the approach of the US administration of deploying more troops in order to facilitate more civilian reconstruction. Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle spoke of a “new beginning”. Before the conference, Taliban leaders had been in touch with the UN in secret to discuss preconditions for negotiations.

10.02.2010

President Karzai said he would soon hold a Loya Jirga, a national council of elders with great traditional authority. This time, leaders who had not been invited to earlier Jirgas because of their ties to the Taliban will also be asked to take part. The Saudi government later indicted it might help to reach out to moderate Taliban.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “You don’t make peace with your friends, you have to be willing to engage with your enemies.” While the US administration had so far been in favour of cooperating with people who defect from the Taliban, it had been more cautious about negotiating with leaders. In London, Western allies pledged to set up a fund to support fighters who defect from the Taliban.

UN officials confirmed that Kai Eide, the UN special envoy to Afghanistan, had, in early January, met Taliban leaders who were interested in negotiations, but wanted to be sure they were safe from arrest. Eide will soon be replaced by Staffan de Mistura, a Swedish UN diplomat, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced. Eide had lost the trust of the USA last year after Peter Galbraith, a US citizen and vocal critic of Hamid Karzai, resigned as his deputy.

Germany’s Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle welcomed Karzai’s pledges of assuming more responsibility in the future. He stressed allies would make sure that Karzai kept his words on boosting domestic security efforts. Westerwelle said, the conference marked a “new beginning”. On behalf of the Federal Government, he promised to double German aid to Afghanistan to € 430 million and to deploy 850 more soldiers.

The conference in London was attended by participants from almost 70 nations and essentially backed the strategy of the USA. President Barack Obama wants to increase military presence in the short term, thus facilitating security and reconstruction, in order to start withdrawal next year. A similar “surge” was successful in Iraq, but skeptics doubt the strategy will work out in Afghanistan’s more fissured society. (dem)