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| Afghanistan |
| Afghani clerics urge Karzai to talk with Taliban |
| 2009-03-21 |
| Afghanistan's top Muslim clerics urged President Hamid Karzai on Friday to push ahead with a proposal for talks with the Taliban that would be mediated by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah. Calls for negotiations between Afghanistan's government and the Taliban have been mounting as the militant group has stepped up attacks in recent years despite efforts to defeat it by Afghan and international forces. President Barack Obama has urged the Afghan government to encourage moderate elements of the Taliban to reconcile with the government. Karzai has repeatedly said he is open to talks with top Taliban leaders but has made few apparent moves to start such a process. However, Karzai has previously asked King Abdullah to facilitate contacts with the Taliban. The leaders of Afghanistan's powerful Muslim clerics' council pressed Karzai in a meeting Friday to push the talks forward, said Faiz Mohammad, a council member from Kunduz province. They proposed a meeting that would include government and Taliban representatives and also former jihad leaders, other prominent Afghans and representatives of neighboring countries, Mohammad said. Karzai's office issued a statement summarizing the meeting, without saying if it would take any action. |
| Posted by:ryuge |