Karzai calls for talks with Taliban leaders

LONDON — Afghanistan's president said Thursday that reaching out to the Taliban's leadership would be a centerpiece of his plan to end the war, setting in motion a risky diplomatic campaign that could aggravate frictions with the United States.

A 65-nation conference in London intended to muster money and support for an Afghan war strategy instead exposed divisions between the Afghan government and its allies over the timetable for drawing down foreign forces and whether and how to reconcile with the leaders of the Taliban insurgency.

"We must reach out to all of our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers," President Hamid Karzai said. In the coming weeks, he said, he would invite Taliban leaders to a traditional tribal assembly to try to persuade them to lay down their weapons and join the government.

Karzai's proposal went much further than the strategy preferred by many U.S. officials, who favor luring back low- and mid-level Taliban fighters. The Obama administration is in the middle of a spirited debate over the implications of negotiating with top Taliban leaders who sheltered Osama bin Laden and retain ties to al-Qaida.

U.S. officials did not talk about "reconciliation" Thursday, and they were caught off guard by Karzai's plans for a tribal peace conference. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton did not endorse Karzai's strategy, though she voiced sympathy for his goal.

"You have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a situation that ends an insurgency," she said after the meeting.

Dangling jobs and money before the Taliban could breed resentment among other poor Afghans who have little to show for their loyalty to the government.

Among former Taliban members, who have taken part in previous government reconciliation programs, there is deep skepticism that a new program will be any better than earlier versions, which left them impoverished, jobless and at risk of being attacked by their former comrades.

"Everyone understands that this 'reconciliation' process is just a name because they leave us in the lurch," said Mullah Abdul Majed, a former Taliban commander, who laid down his weapons in 2008 only to find himself abandoned by the government he had hoped to join.

This time, with the NATO forces backing the plan, it will be easier to ensure that the fighters are not arrested, Afghan officials said.

The London conference was intended to help cure some of those problems. It raised $140 million for a fund intended to ease the reintegration of low-level Taliban fighters. Some $500 million was pledged, but whether all that money will materialize was another matter.

The Taliban leadership has rejected talk of an olive branch, saying its fighters would not be influenced by money and will not join talks until foreign forces have left.

Before the conference began, Karzai opened another chasm with his allies, once again raising the prospect of a far more drawn-out foreign troop presence before Afghans would be able to assume full responsibility for their own security.

It could take five to 10 years for Afghan forces to take over from the U.S.-led coalition, he told the BBC; and even longer to end his country's dependence on financial aid for its military.

That is far longer than President Obama's goal to begin drawing down U.S. forces by summer 2011.