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| India-Pakistan |
| President Zardari open to Taliban talks |
| 2010-08-07 |
| [Dawn] Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari said on Friday he is willing to consider negotiations with the Taliban in his country a statement that came amid accusations he has failed to do enough to tackle terrorism. Zardari told The Associated Press that his country had never closed the door to talks with the Taliban. "We never closed the dialogue," Zardari told the AP, skirting the question of when talks could resume. "We had an agreement, which they broke. Talks will resume whenever they feel we're strong enough and they can't win, because they won't win." Last year, the government struck a deal with the Taliban in the Swat Valley that gave them effective control over the region. The militants did not abide by the agreement and moved into another region, prompting an all-out offensive by the Pakistani army. Still, some politicians and their supporters support the idea of talking with the Taliban. They typically share the aims of the movement in wanting an Islamist state free from US influence. The United States and Pakistan's other Western allies have been urging the country to continue fighting the Pakistani Taliban, not talk to them. The movement has been behind dozens of bloody attacks inside Pakistan that have killed thousands over the last three years. What the West wants is for Pakistan to expand and go after other groups. The group, which is loosely based in the tribal regions close to the Afghan border, was involved in the failed Times Square car bombing and the suicide attack on a CIA base in December in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA employees. It has links with al-Qaida and the Afghan Taliban fighting across the border in Afghanistan. Over the last four years, Pakistan has tried negotiating with militant groups operating in the northwest. But the truces have quickly broken down and typically allowed them to regroup and emerge stronger. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #6 What if it turns out the Taliban don't _want_ to give up 10%? |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2010-08-07 10:23 |
| #5 Essentially, Paul. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2010-08-07 10:18 |
| #4 This reminds me of Gerry Adams offering to talk to the IRA re peace talks |
| Posted by: Paul D 2010-08-07 08:21 |
| #3 First problem, they made an agreement with a terrorist group. The malfunction is that the only agreement that you make with a terrorist group is that they stop being a terrorist group. Worked in Iraq. |
| Posted by: Mike Ramsey 2010-08-07 07:51 |
| #2 Still, some politicians and their supporters support the idea of talking with the Taliban. They typically share the dope and arms smuggling aims of the movement in wanting an Islamist utopian state free from the evil infidel US influence. There, fully repaird. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-08-07 01:30 |
| #1 -First problem, they made an agreement with a terrorist group. -Second problem, after having made this agreement, they expected these jihadists to keep it? -Third, they are trying to be nice to terrorists again? Can any one else ID the malfunction here? |
| Posted by: miscellaneous 2010-08-07 01:22 |