Taliban leader rejects Karzai's call for peace talks

Afghanistan News.Net
Wednesday 25th November, 2009 (IANS)

The Taliban's fugitive leader, Mullah Omar, Wednesday rejected the Afghan government's call for talks with Taliban-led insurgents.

His statement came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha and days after President Hamid Karzai renewed his calls to Taliban militants for peace during his inauguration speech last week.

'The people of Afghanistan will not agree to negotiation which prolongs and legitimatises the invaders' military presence in our beloved country,' Omar said in the statement emailed to the media.

'Those who have occupied our country and taken our people as hostage, want to use the stratagem of negotiation ... in order to achieve their colonialist objectives.'

More than 100,000 international troops are currently stationed in Afghanistan to help the government fight a rampant Taliban insurgency in its ninth year.

US President Barack Obama has vowed to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan by the end of his tenure. He is expected to announce his much-awaited decision on a request for an additional 40,000 troops for Afghanistan. The NATO-led international force in Afghanistan is currently comprised of 68,000 troops.

Mounting fatalities among the allied forces in Afghanistan, has forced Western officials to support the government's plan to negotiate with Taliban members who are not linked to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

Karzai, who is now serving a second five-year term, says his administration is determined to convene a tribal council, or loya jirga, that would welcome militants who renounce violence.

Email this story to a friend

Comments on this story

Have your say on this story