INTERVIEW: UN emissary greets talks with Taliban

Sep 11, 2007, 22:09 GMT

Kabul - The United Nations would welcome the possibility of talks with the remnant Taliban forces in Afghanistan, but cautioned the dealings must take place within the framework of the Afghan constitution, a UN emissary said in an interview Tuesday.

Tom Koenigs, the special UN envoy to Afghanistan, made the remarks in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur in Kabul.

Earlier Tuesday, the Afghan government expressed willingness to hold 'direct negotiations' with rebel groups to restore peace and stability to the country. The Taliban leadership on Monday said it was open to an offer by President Hamid Karzai of peace talks with the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami of Hekmatyar.

'Anyone who accepts and obeys the constitution that was adopted by 99 per cent of the people would be welcome for all negotiations,' Koenigs said, commenting on the possibility of talks.

The real question, he noted, was how serious the rebel insurgents were in their offer for talks.

'It's nonsense to throw all Taliban into the same category as terrorists,' Koenigs said. The Taliban was composed of different groups.

'The issues that provoke them to violence or to rebellion have various reasons, which of course can be discussed,' he said, speaking in his native German.

Koenigs said it would be a mistake to underestimate the ability of Afghanistan's new democratic system to absorb radical forces. Even warlords have been successfully brought in from the battlefield and into parliament, he said.

The central Asian country is preparing for next week's International Day of Peace, which is to be marked in Afghanistan with prayers, media programmes, humanitarian drives and cultural activities.

The Taliban is the fundamentalist Islamic force that ruled Pakistan according to strict religious law during the 1990s, allowing the al-Qaeda terrorist network to thrive under its wing.

After al-Qaeda's terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, the US lead an international coalition into Afghanistan to oust the fundamentalist government. But Taliban forces are still blamed for much of the violence that continues to plague the country.