AFGHANISTAN: Afghan President Hamid Karzai urges Taliban talks

Afghan president Karzai is still hoping to hold peace talks with the Taliban but expresses frustration at the lack of contact with the Islamist extremist group. Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday (September 9) renewed a call for talks with Taliban insurgents. Karzai spoke after meeting visiting Latvian President Valdis Zatlers and called for talks with his Taliban foes. "We won't have peace until we negotiate with Taliban and Hezb-i-Islami, we should be ready for negotiations with every Afghan," he said. "I wish there was someone that will eventually come out with a telephone number, with an address, with a leadership structure, that we can go and talk to," he added. Karzai has repeatedly offered talks with the Taliban, but the guerrillas have refused. Violence has escalated in Afghanistan in recent months. More than 7,000 people have been killed during the past 19 months, the bloodiest period since the resurgent Taliban's overthrow in 2001. Karzai said Pakistan was assisting in efforts to start talks with the Taliban. Zatlers, whose government has a small contingent among the United Nations (U.N.) forces in Afghanistan, offered his support to Karzai's government, saying: "We can make it our task number one just to focus on your problems, to focus on what you need."

ITN Source | September 9, 2007

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