Afghan Peace Assembly Backs Talks With Taliban
VOA News 04 June 2010
Afghan delegates to a peace conference in Kabul say they support President Hamid Karzai's plans for peace talks with the Taliban in an attempt to end nearly nine years of war.
The roughly 1,600 delegates endorsed President Karzai's reconciliation plan Friday, while wrapping up the three-day peace assembly, or jirga, in the Afghan capital.
Deputy chair of the jirga, Qiyamuddin Kashaf, read the final resolution calling for the formation of a commission to lead efforts to open talks with the Taliban. The assembly said militants who joined the peace process should be removed from the United Nations blacklist and that insurgents who wanted to take part must cut their ties to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
During closing remarks at the conference, President Karzai urged the Taliban and other militant groups to end the fighting. He said the jirga has provided "a clear path" for the government.
The Taliban was not invited to the peace conference, and has said it will not engage in peace talks until all foreign troops leave Afghanistan.
Afghan security forces on Wednesday killed two attempted suicide bombers during a Taliban attack on conference. No one else was hurt.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.
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