Taliban leaders met with Afghan government

Top echelons of the Taliban have approached the government in Kabul about peace talks, said General David Petraeus, the Nato commander in Afghanistan yesterday. Petraeus told reporters that there have been no substantive negotiations so far, but news of the Taliban's approaches ahead of the establishment of a high peace council this week could signal that direct talks are not far off. Although there have been contacts at various levels between President Hamid Karzai's government and the Taliban for several months, Petraeus's comments are the first time they have been revealed to be at such a high level. "There are very high-level Taliban leaders who have sought to reach out to the highest levels of the Afghan government, and they have done that," he said. Karzai, in a reflection in his lack of confidence in coalition forces to defeat the insurgency, has made repeated efforts to reach out to members of the Taliban calling them "brothers" and "dear Talibs" and asking that their leaders be removed from a UN sanctions list. But it doing so, he has drawn scorn from some political allies, among them Afghanistan's ethnic minorities who fear a new wave of repression if the Taliban is allowed to share power. American military commanders have backed the Afghan president's efforts, saying they reflect a similar approach to Sunni insurgents in Iraq. "President Karzai's conditions are very clear, very established, and we support them as we did in Iraq, as the British did in Northern Ireland … this is the way you end insurgencies," said Petraeus. Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omer, confirmed to reporters that there have been high level contacts and signals but said they do not amount to negotiations. "There are signs that they are ready for talks, and this intensified after the president announced the programme of reintegration and reconciliation after the peace jirga (council)," he told the New York Times. "There have been different levels of contact - sometimes direct and sometimes indirect." Karzai is expected to appoint the high peace council this week.