Kabul (dpa) – Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday backed possible US-led negotiations with the Taliban militants who have been waging a decade-long war against Afghan and international soldiers. Karzai, in a statement, said that his government “agrees with the negotiation between the United States and the Taliban that will lead to establishment of an office in Qatar in order to reach peace.” The Taliban movement, in a statement on Tuesday, agreed to open an office in the Gulf state to facilitate possible talks with the international community. The statement – which did not say that the Taliban had any interest in peace talks – made no reference to the Afghan government. “(The deal) will save Afghanistan from war, conspiracies of killing our innocent people … so our country and people will (be) rescued from the excuses of foreigners and their actions that they use to continue war and bloodshed,” Karzai said in the statement, released by his palace. He said that war on terrorism, which entered its eleventh year in November, was not against the Afghan people. “War on terror can not be successful by raiding the Afghan houses,” he said. “Negotiation is the only way to reach peace and get out of the war and violence that our nation has suffered,” Karzai said in the statement. Western and Afghan officials hope the office could be used to engage the Taliban in peace talks, although the Islamist organization has maintained that it would only enter a peace deal when all foreign soldiers leave, as is planned by 2014. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/cJoFy Tags: Afghanistan, Taliban, United States Section: Asia, Latest News, North America
