Karzai calls for Afghan reconciliation

LONDON // The Afghan president Hamid Karzai said today he would hold a council of elders in what could be a first step towards bringing Taliban insurgents into a political settlement. President Karzai, speaking at a 60-nation conference in London, also called on Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to support peace efforts in Afghanistan. He urged Afghan insurgents to sever ties with al Qa'eda, renounce violence and rejoin the political process.

"We must reach out to all of our countrymen, especially our disenchanted brothers, who are not part of al Qa'eda, or other terrorist networks, who accept the Afghan constitution." "We will establish a national council for peace and reconciliation and reintegration, followed by a peace jirga in Afghanistan," he said. Analysts say it is unclear whether Karzai would try to include the Taliban in a peace jirga, or if he would first seek Afghan political backing to bring them in at a later stage.

The British prime minister Gordon Brown called the conference as the war, originally launched to deny al Qa'eda militants sanctuary after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, enters its ninth year. Public support in the United States, Britain and other nations in the Nato-led campaign is waning and casualties among foreign troops as well as Afghan civilians are rising. A flawed election, widespread corruption and questions about Mr Karzai's performance have also fuelled criticism of the mission.

Mr Karzai called on Saudi Arabia, which has hosted talks between Afghan government and Taliban representatives in the past, to help bring peace to Afghanistan. "We hope His Majesty [Saudi] King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz will kindly play a prominent role to guide and assist the peace process," he said. He also said Afghanistan needed the support of its neighbours, particularly Pakistan, to secure peace.

Washington says Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Muhammed Omar and other insurgent leaders are based in Pakistan ? a charge Islamabad denies. Pakistan is seen as well placed to mediate in any eventual peace talks. Washington is sending an extra 30,000 troops to Afghanistan to break a stalemate in a war. Western governments are hoping this, combined with renewed commitment to development and new funds to win over Taliban fighters, will weaken the insurgency and allow them to start pulling out troops in 2011.

Mr Brown told the conference: "By the middle of next year, we have to turn the tide in the fight against the insurgency." * Reuters