 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Oslo (AFP) Nov 4, 2010 The UN's former envoy in Afghanistan threw his weight Thursday behind dialogue between Afghan authorities and the Taliban to reach a peaceful solution to a conflict he said neither side could win. "The time has come to embrace a more fully pledged process of dialogue with the insurgency," former United Nations special representative Kai Eide said at a press conference in Oslo to launch his new book on Afghanistan. "Are the Taliban ready to move into that kind of dialogue? In my view they are but I cannot say with certainty," said Eide, who stepped down as top UN official to Kabul in March following the fraud-tainted presidential vote. "NATO cannot win the war and the Taliban cannot win the war," he added. "So we're in a stalemate." The next four to five winter months, marked by less military activity, offer "a window" for discussions, Eide said. He suggested several measures for fostering confidence between the two sides, including limited ceasefires. "The only way forward is not to pose any preconditions for sitting down, but once you sit down, then you start discussing what your preconditions for a solution may be," he said. Any agreement must respect three red lines established by the Afghan government he said; notably that the Taliban accept the country's constitution especially with respect to women's rights, that they lay down their arms and that they sever ties to Al-Qaeda.
earlier related report The bomber was on foot and detonated explosives strapped to his body near the leader of a local council, Rahmatullah Turkistani, killing five civilians and injuring the official, a police commander told AFP. Another 21 people were hurt in the blast in Khwaja Sabzposh district in northern Faryab province, provincial police chief Abdul Khalil Andarabi said. The apparent target was Turkistani, chairman of the Faryab provincial council, he said. Separately, NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said three foreign soldiers were killed -- two on Thursday and one on Friday -- fighting insurgents in the south. Southern Afghanistan is the heartland of the Taliban insurgency, though the Islamist militia have expanded their campaign to the once peaceful north. The new deaths took to 620 the number of foreign soldiers killed in the Afghan war this year, the deadliest for the US-led military coalition since the toppling of the Taliban in late 2001. The United States and NATO have more than 150,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban-led insurgency, now in its 10th year.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links News From Across The Stans
Five civilians killed in Afghan firefight: NATOKabul (AFP) Nov 3, 2010 Five civilians, two of them children, were killed Wednesday in a firefight between between insurgents and foreign soldiers in southern Afghanistan, NATO said. The exchange of small arms fire broke out when insurgents attacked "shuras", or traditional meetings, being held by NATO representatives and civilians in Nad Ali district, in Helmand province, a statement from the alliance said. "C ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook
