Karzai Welcomes Obama Call to Reach Out to Taliban

KABUL-President Hamid Karzai on Sunday welcomed President Barack Obama's call to identify moderate elements of the Taliban and encourage them to reconcile with the Afghan government. Obama's call "was good news because this has been the stand of the Afghan government," Karzai told a gymnasium full of Afghan women during a speech to commemorate International Women's Day. Obama said in an interview with The New York Times published Sunday that there may be opportunities to reach out to moderates in the Taliban, but the situation in Afghanistan is more complicated than the challenges the American military faced in Iraq."There may be some comparable opportunities in Afghanistan and in the Pakistani region," Obama said, while cautioning that solutions in Afghanistan will be complicated. U.S. troops were able to persuade Sunni Muslim insurgents in Iraq to cooperate in some instances because they had been alienated by the tactics of Al Qaeda terrorists.Karzai warned that there are Taliban fighters who are beyond reconciliation-those who have joined with Al Qaeda, for instance.But he said talks should go forward "with those who are afraid to come back to their country, or who feel they have no choice but to stay with the Taliban for various reasons.They are welcome."Obama cautioned that Afghanistan is a less-governed region than Iraq with a history of fierce independence among tribes, creating a tough set of circumstances for the United States to deal with...

By AP
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