The Pentagon would not support a reconciliation effort with Mullah Omar, the Taliban leader who sheltered Al Qaeda and was ousted from power in a United States (US)-led campaign in 2001, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
Geoff Morrell, the Pentagon press secretary, said such an initiative would ultimately be up to the Afghan government but he did not believe "that anybody in this building would support the notion of reconciling with people with that kind of blood on their hands". US President Barack Obama had suggested in an interview published on Sunday that the US would consider talks with moderate elements of the Taliban.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, however, appeared to draw limits around a reconciliation process in an interview with National Public Radio on Monday in which he said that 'at a minimum' the US must prevent Taliban insurgents from returning to power. |