Kabul: The Taliban on Friday condemned Barack
Obama`s Nobel Peace Prize, saying rather than bring peace to
Afghanistan he had boosted troop numbers and continued the
aggressive policies of his predecessor.
"We have seen no change in his strategy for peace. He has
done nothing for peace in Afghanistan," Taliban spokesman
Zabihullah Mujahid said to a news agency.
"We condemn the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for
Obama," he said by telephone from an undisclosed location.
"When Obama was elected president, we were hopeful he
would keep his promise to bring change. But he brought no
change, he has continued the same old strategy as (President
George W) Bush.
"He reinforces the war in Afghanistan, he sent more
troops to Afghanistan and is considering sending yet more. He
has shed Afghan blood and he continues to bleed Afghans and to
boost the war here," he said.
Obama won the award less than a year after he took office
with the jury hailing his "extraordinary" diplomatic efforts.
Obama, 48, took office in January and has since sought to
restore US standing in the world after widespread criticism
over the war in Iraq and the superpower`s attitude to efforts
to control global warming.
He is currently considering a request from his military
commanders to send another 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, where
a Taliban insurgency is gaining strength, and the death toll
of foreign soldiers has surged.
Bureau Report
