Taliban back plan on talks office

3 January 2012 Last updated at 10:56 ET

Negotiating with the Taliban is thought to be the best way to end the decade-long conflict

The Taliban say they have reached a preliminary agreement to set up a political office, possibly in Qatar, as part of Western plans to end the war.

A statement confirmed the move, which has been backed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Both the US and Germany have been pushing for such a representation in an effort to kick-start negotiations.

The office is seen by some as a key step towards ending the 10-year-long conflict in Afghanistan.

The move was welcomed by the Afghan High Peace Council, which is seeking a negotiated end to the war, as "a gesture of good faith".

But it still remains unclear if the insurgents, who claim to be winning the war, are prepared to engage in truly meaningful peace talks - and whether they could take place while international forces continue to kill Taliban fighters and commanders, says the BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Kabul.

Meanwhile at least 12 people including police were killed in three bomb attacks in the southern city of Kandahar, local officials said.

Importance of address

In their statement, the insurgents said Afghanistan's "current problem" began with the US-led invasion of 2001 and "the two main sides which were involved in this are the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan [Taliban] and on the other side is the United States and their foreign allies".

It said the Taliban movement "always tries to solve the issue or the problem with the opposite side through talks" and warned the Western coalition that they would "never force the Afghans to obey them by force".

"For the sake of a better understanding with the internationals, we have an initial understanding to have a political office - including in the country of Qatar."

The statement added that they wanted prisoners released from the US-run detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, as part of a deal.

Our Kabul correspondent says this could prove difficult, as many Taliban fighters held there have direct links to al-Qaeda and some are responsible for the deaths of Americans.

The statement also rejected as false reports by "Western press and officials" about negotiations.

The agreement to set up the liaison office would give the group an address where negotiators could meet, says our Kabul correspondent, and some see this agreement as a critical step.

But the statement fails to mention the Afghan government, which the Taliban regards as a puppet regime.

String of setbacks

Last month, President Karzai gave his first public support to the plan - having previously rejected the idea, angry that the US and Germany had discussed potential locations without him.

Kabul has repeatedly stressed that it will not accept any foreign intervention in negotiations with the Taliban.

Efforts to hold talks have been hit by a string of setbacks, including the assassination in September of Burhannudin Rabbani, the head of the peace council, which had been liaising with the militant group.

The Taliban denied being responsible, but said the attack added to the sense of mistrust.

A senior negotiator on the council, Arsala Rahmani, said the Taliban needed to be in touch with the international community.

We welcome their decision to set up a political office," he told Reuters news agency.

"It is a gesture of good faith. The Taliban are blacklisted by the US so it is very important for them to engage in talks with the US."

US and Afghan officials have also stressed that Pakistan - where the Taliban's leadership are believed to be based - must be involved in the process.

Continue Reading... Labels: office, Taliban, talks

UN climate talks near chaotic end

10 December 2011 Last updated at 15:32 ET

 

By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News, Durban

Elements of the draft text are still causing much discussion

At UN climate talks in South Africa, the host government says agreement has been reached on many of the key issues.

But some delegations are very unhappy with elements of the draft text drawn up by the hosts, in particular on the "roadmap" to a binding global deal.

The EU and many small, poor nations want a legally-binding deal that will curb emissions well before 2020.

But the draft text talks only of curbs after 2020, and does not specify a legally-binding outcome.

"The latest text is not acceptable to us and to many other parties," said UK Climate Secretary Chris Huhne.

"The UK, as part of the EU, will continue to push for the most credible deal that meets the needs of the science."

Many other issues are tied up in long documents before delegates, who have embarked on a series of official sessions at which all the texts must be approved.

If they cannot reach agreement, there is a real prospect of talks collapsing.

'Lack of urgency'

Small-group meetings are also continuing on the main points, though it is hard to see what can be achieved, given the incompatibility of the basic positions.

An added complication is that some ministers have already left, with the meeting running more than a day beyond its scheduled close.

The South African hosts have come in for a lot of criticism over a perceived lack of strategy and urgency.

And the new draft text appears to go back towards the position of the few big, important countries opposing a strong deal - the US, Brazil, China, and India among them.

"There's so much clarity about the crisis - when even the International Energy Agency says 'you've got five years', it couldn't be clearer," said Tim Gore, senior policy adviser with Oxfam.

"And if they can't find a way to solve it with everyone in the room, they have to do it with those that want to, leaving the US behind."

What delayed matters further was a fake text issued apparently by the South African presidency after consultation with the EU, US, Brazil, India and China.

Consternation and fury

It contained weaker targets and longer timescales, and was initially greeted with consternation by the EU, Aosis and the LDCs, which have been pressing hardest for a strong deal.

The consternation turned to fury when it was discovered that the text was fake. European officials said it appeared to be a deliberate attempt to stall negotiations.

The perpetrator has not been identified. But it appears likely that the aim was to fracture the ad-hoc partnership between the EU and its developing world allies.

Continue reading the main story

The real earlier draft, released on Saturday morning, proposed that the "roadmap" towards a new deal encompassing all countries would begin in the New Year and complete by 2015 at the latest, to come into force at an unspecified later stage.

If also spelled out the fact that there is a mismatch, a gap, between the pledges countries have already made on cutting emissions and the cuts necessary to keep global temperatures within 2C of pre-industrial levels.

Developing countries have insisted that EU nations must put their existing pledges on restricting emissions under the Kyoto Protocol; and this appears to have survived through to the latest text.

It would not mean tougher cuts in Europe in the near future, but it would put EU pledges under an international legal framework.

Agreement on managing the Green Climate Fund, which will eventually gather and disburse finance amounting to $100bn per year to help poor countries develop cleanly and adapt to climate impacts, also appears within reach.

But with disagreement clearly manifesting itself in early exchanges in the formal sessions, everything could be held hostage to the main disagreement on the roadmap.

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Continue Reading... Labels: chaotic, climate, talks