Thursday, March 24, 2005
Moderate Taliban leaders to be invited for talks: Karzai
Press Trust of India
Islamabad, March 24
Hinting that the moderate Taliban leaders would be permitted to contest the Parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai has said some of them would be invited for talks soon by former King Zahir Shah.
The Taliban are Afghans and can take part upcoming parliamentary elections in their personal capacity and not as a movement, Karzai, who ended a two-day visit to Islamabad on Wednesday, told a television channel here before his departure.
He said that he was in contact with the former Taliban Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakil and has sent a reply to his letter. "I tried to meet Mutawakil but a meeting has not yet been materialised. I will definitely meet him if he is willing for the same," Karzai said.
Karzai for some time has been making a distinction between faction led by Wakil and hardline Taliban leader Mullah Omar who continues toe the Al-Qaeda line.
Asked if Hizb-e-Islami leader Engineer Gulbadin Hekmatyar would be allowed to take part in the parliamentary elections, Karzai said Hekmatyar has refused to take part and has declared Jihad.
"Everyone is allowed to take part in elections but those would not be allowed whose hands are stained with blood of innocent people," Karzai said.
To a question about Osama Bin Laden, Karzai said Osama is responsible for the sufferings of Afghans. "We are trying to catch and punish him," he said.
Incomplete census process was one of the reasons for the delay in elections. He said lack of funds and some other technical problems were also to blame.
Parliamentary vote in Afghanistan, earlier scheduled for May, will now be held in September.
On when the Americans were expected to leave Afghanistan, he said his government does not want Americans to leave Afghanistan as the country needs them to stay for some time.
© HT Media Ltd. 2004.