President of Afghanistan to visit London as efforts are made to end conflict
By Kim Sengupta
The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, will today brief Gordon Brown on talks being held with the Taliban with the aim of ending the conflict in his country, The Independent has learnt.
Mr Karzai is due to meet the Prime Minister after flying in from New York, where he discussed the matter with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari.
The Saudi monarch has sponsored dialogue between the Afghan government and emissaries of the Taliban and other insurgent groups at a series of confidential meetings. Mr Zardari, who took over as Pakistan's civilian head of state after recent elections, is said to have been facilitating the talks.
Mr Karzai is on a short visit to Britain for the Prince of Wales's 60th birthday party and will see Mr Brown before the Prime Minister goes to Washington DC for the G20 summit. Britain maintains a public posture of not talking to the Taliban, although secret talks have indeed been held, but supports the Afghan regime's efforts to direct peace overtures towards the Islamist group.
One of the meetings hosted by King Abdullah took place in Mecca in September and is said to have included Mr Karzai's brother Qayum, Mullah Mohammad Tayeb Agha, the former spokesman for the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, the former Taliban foreign minister Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, and the ex- Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif, who has contacts with the insurgents.
The Independent has also learnt that Mr Karzai's government held secret talks with Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former mujahedin leader now labelled a terrorist by American and Britain, through members of his family who regularly visit Kabul.
As a mujahedin commander against the Russians, Mr Hekmatyar was supported by the CIA and Pakistan. In the civil war which followed the Soviet withdrawal, he continued to be backed by the Americans and Pakistanis despite being blamed for atrocities. The warlord later fell out with the Americans and based himself in Iran, from where he directed attacks on Nato in Afghanistan.
In another move towards negotiations with the Taliban, a two-day assembly of Afghan and Pakistani tribal elders was held in Pakistan and agreed to set up a committee to open a dialogue with the Taliban, according to the former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who was one of the delegates.
Although the British Government denies involvement in any negotiations with the Taliban, direct contact with the insurgents has taken place, leading to a number of them changing sides and providing intelligence which led to their leaders being killed or captured.
Last month, Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the departing commander of British troops in Afghanistan, said a purely military victory was not possible and there would have to be a negotiated end to the conflict. Mr Brown has had personal experience of reconciliation involving Islamists. During his visit to Saudi Arabia last week, he met and shook hands with former jihadists who had been held at Guantanamo Bay.
The US has also changed its position on talking to the Taliban. Soon after Mullah Omar's regime was overthrown in 2001, the then US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, declared that it would never again be allowed to seize power in Afghanistan. "Those who have been defeated would like to come back but they will not have that opportunity" he said. Since then, with the Taliban resurgent as the US-led "war on terror" shifted to Iraq, American officials have been much more receptive to the idea of talking to the Taliban. David Petraeus, the US general credited with reducing violence in Iraq by winning over insurgents, is now overseeing the multi-national mission in Afghanistan. He is expected to introduce some of his Iraqi tactics into the conflict.
* An inquiry may be held into the continued use of lightly-armoured Snatch Land Rovers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Defence Secretary, John Hutton, said he was prepared to look at a formal request for an investigation from the mother of Pte Phillip Hewett, who died when his Land Rover was hit by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2005.
'Extra UK troops' for Afghanistan
Up to 2,000 extra British troops are likely to be sent to Afghanistan next year, the BBC has learned.
Ministers are considering sending reinforcements to Afghanistan to meet an expected request from Barack Obama, when he becomes US president next year.
In talks, Afghan leaders told Gordon Brown more troops were needed as it emerged two Royal Marines were killed on Tuesday in the south of the country.
The Ministry of Defence said it had not received a request for extra troops.
American brigades
The last two days in Afghanistan have been marked by bloody fighting, and at least 21 military and civilian deaths.
At Downing Street, during a visit to London, Afghanistan's President, Hamid Karzai, told Gordon Brown all efforts were being made "to bring violence down" after the Afghan foreign minister urged Britain to send in more troops.
The Afghan people are very grateful for what Britain has done in Afghanistan
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai
Mr Karzai told BBC News: "British troops have been in the very difficult part of Afghanistan, in the most difficult part of the country. They have suffered, they have sacrificed lives in Afghanistan.
"The Afghan people are very grateful for what Britain has done in Afghanistan."
He added: "If we need more troops to add to security, to close the borders... [to] the entry of extremists and terrorists, the exit of narcotics, well, yes, bring more troops."
But among Britons, there appears to be a public appetite to pull out.
A BBC-commissioned poll suggested nearly 70% favoured bringing the troops home.
However, the US President-elect Barack Obama has made it clear he is ready to commit at least two more American brigades, the equivalent of about 8,000 extra troops.
And it is expected he will ask Nato allies to strengthen their numbers too.
Huge following
The UK already has 8,100 troops in Helmand province and British ministers have publicly argued any extras should come from elsewhere in Europe in order to share the burden more fairly.
But the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins said that privately ministers and officials conceded the new president would still ask for a greater British fighting effort.
The UK is already making a substantial contribution to the mission
Ministry of Defence
He said they also made it clear that no government would want to say no to President Obama early in his term of office, particularly given his huge following.
Our correspondent said some British officials accepted it might be necessary to commit up to 2,000 more soldiers next year.
But he said it could be made easier by the expected withdrawal from Iraq and the net effect could still be a reduction in force levels in the two countries combined.
Rare interview
The Ministry of Defence told the BBC: "We have not received a request for extra troops and the figure of 2,000 is not one we or Number 10 recognise.
"Whereas we keep our force levels under constant review, based on military advice, there is no further intention to increase force levels at this time."
The combined death toll of British service personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan has now reached 300.
In total, 124 of them were in Afghanistan, including the two marines killed on Tuesday when their vehicle was hit by an explosive device in Helmand.
In a rare radio interview earlier, the Taleban's senior spokesman called for all foreign forces to leave Afghanistan.
Speaking by telephone from a secret location in the region, Zabihullah Mujahid derided Barack Obama's plans to deploy more troops, saying they would not defeat the Afghan insurgency.
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