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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Iranian foreign minister warns West against talks with Taliban |
| 2008-10-20 |
| Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki warned the West Sunday not to push for talks with the Taliban, which had stormy relations with Tehran when it ruled Afghanistan up to 2001. "Today, the whole world knows about the strategic failure of foreign forces in Afghanistan and we advise them not to try a new failure," Mottaki said. "We advise them to think about the consequences of the talks [with the Taliban] which are taking place in the region and in Europe and avoid being bitten in the same spot twice," he added, citing a Persian proverb. Last month, Afghan government representatives met Taliban leaders in the Saudi holy city of Mecca for talks on ending the insurgency that has plagued Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted from power in 2001, the Saudi-owned daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat reported. The Afghan government denied the report but President Hamid Karzai has long called for talks with the Taliban on condition that they accept his government's Constitution and are not involved with Al-Qaeda. Several Western countries have expressed support for negotiations with the insurgents. "The West should not think they can confine extremism to Afghanistan, Pakistan and central Asia," Mottaki said, warning that militancy would one day also reach Europe and the West. The hard-line Sunni Taliban had hostile relations with Shiite Iran, which was a major backer of the Afghan opposition to the Taliban government's rule. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 I suppose the usual threat of "dire consequences" applies to this "warning"... |
| Posted by: Rivrdog 2008-10-20 00:33 |