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There have been three international conferences in Germany on the future of Afghanistan over the last six years. The last one took place in Berlin in 2004. None have included representatives of the Taliban.
Beck's idea was backed by Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who on Tuesday for Berlin to host an Afghan peace conference where Taliban moderates could discuss terms with the Kabul authorities. SPD politician Rolf Mützenich also praised the idea, saying that a conference involving members of the Taliban was necessary to bring stability to the country. He also noted that Afghan president Hamid Karzai was in favor of a meeting of this kind.
But Eckart von Klaeden, foreign affairs expert for the conservative Union bloc, reacted sceptically. He told the German daily Berliner Zeitung that the idea was "not particularly well thought through." Von Klaeden also expressed concern that inviting the Taliban to take part in such a conference "would increase their international status and damage the authority of the elected government of Hamid Karzai."
