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Taliban says open for talks with Afghan opponents
Afghanistan`s foreign minister said in an interview released on Sunday that his Taliban movement had offered to hold peace talks with Opposition Commander Ahmad Shah Masood at any time.
Afghanistan's foreign minister said in an interview released on Sunday that his Taliban movement had offered to hold peace talks with Opposition Commander Ahmad Shah Masood at any time.
''We are ready at any moment to sit down at the negotiating table and just a few days ago sent a message to our adversary containing such a proposal,'' Maulawi Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil was quoted as saying in Sunday's edition of the Russian Daily Vremya Novostei.
He added, ''We have received no reply.'' Masood, the last foe of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban with any real power, was military chief of the government toppled by the movement nearly four years ago.
Muttawakil's remarks follow a United Nations meeting last week in which eight states seeking to end the conflict commissioned a further report on the Afghan situation.
Some diplomats suggested a negative report could lead to tougher sanctions against the Taliban. The Muslim fundamentalist Taliban controls about 90 percent of Afghan territory and took the capital Kabul more than three years ago.
It announced the capture this month of the northeastern town of Taloqan but Opposition forces on Sunday said they had seized hilltops around the town and were in a position to take it back.
In the interview Muttawakil also denied suggestions his administration was helping insurgents fighting governments in several ex-Soviet republics.
''This is untrue,'' he was quoted as saying. ''What sort of forces would the Taliban need to fight in all the places where they have been 'seen' -- in Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya?''
He said insurgencies in Central Asian states were caused by governments pursuing policies unpopular with their citizens.
''Instead of finding an optimal path of development responding to the needs of the people and not interfering with relations with neighbouring states, these leaders are doing everything to please certain outside forces,'' he said.
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are battling Islamist rebels and suggest some insurgents are hiding in a third ex-Soviet state, Tajikistan, although Tajikistan denies this.
All are critical of the Taliban and Russia has pledged to help them combat any infiltration from Afghanistan to the south.
Muttawakil said that the Taliban's success in halting the conflict depended on improving relations with local residents.
He added, ''We have received no reply.'' Masood, the last foe of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban with any real power, was military chief of the government toppled by the movement nearly four years ago.
Muttawakil's remarks follow a United Nations meeting last week in which eight states seeking to end the conflict commissioned a further report on the Afghan situation.
Some diplomats suggested a negative report could lead to tougher sanctions against the Taliban. The Muslim fundamentalist Taliban controls about 90 percent of Afghan territory and took the capital Kabul more than three years ago.
It announced the capture this month of the northeastern town of Taloqan but Opposition forces on Sunday said they had seized hilltops around the town and were in a position to take it back.
In the interview Muttawakil also denied suggestions his administration was helping insurgents fighting governments in several ex-Soviet republics.
''This is untrue,'' he was quoted as saying. ''What sort of forces would the Taliban need to fight in all the places where they have been 'seen' -- in Kashmir, Palestine, Chechnya?''
He said insurgencies in Central Asian states were caused by governments pursuing policies unpopular with their citizens.
''Instead of finding an optimal path of development responding to the needs of the people and not interfering with relations with neighbouring states, these leaders are doing everything to please certain outside forces,'' he said.
Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan are battling Islamist rebels and suggest some insurgents are hiding in a third ex-Soviet state, Tajikistan, although Tajikistan denies this.
All are critical of the Taliban and Russia has pledged to help them combat any infiltration from Afghanistan to the south.
Muttawakil said that the Taliban's success in halting the conflict depended on improving relations with local residents.
Bureau Report