Rasmussen: NATO to 'facilitate' Afghan dialogue with Taliban

Oct 14, 2010, 17:39 GMT

Brussels - NATO troops are ready to help the Afghan government reach out to former Taliban combatants, the Western military alliance's chief confirmed on Thursday.

Speaking after a meeting in Brussels of NATO defence and foreign ministers, secretary general Anders Fogh Rasmussen insisted that the 'reconciliation process is Afghan led.'

But he added: 'Our position is that if we can facilitate this process through practical assistance, then why not.'

'I won't go into details. If we get a request and can be of practical assistance, then we are prepared to do that,' Rasmussen explained.

However, he pointed out that NATO was only prepared to accept the militants that 'put down weapons and cut off links with armed groups,' and pledge to respect the Afghan democratic constitution and human rights, including women's rights.

Speaking earlier to US broadcaster ABC, United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton defended the idea of reaching out to people that may have been NATO's foes until now.

'If you look at conflicts around the world, you don't make peace with your friends,' she said.

'What we are seeing is a move by the lower-level fighters, many of them, to leave the battlefield ... I think it's highly unlikely that the leadership of the Taliban that refused to turn over (Osama) bin Laden in 2001 will ever reconcile.'

'But stranger things have happened in the history of war. But it can only happen if they're willing to abide by the red lines that we and the Afghan government have established,' Clinton stressed.

Separately, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said his and several other NATO countries had imposed a 'caveat' on the dialogue with former fighters.

'Those that fire against our soldiers cannot be reintegrated,' he warned.

Frattini also indicated that, 'based on the reasonableness and seriousness' of proposals from President Hamid Karzai's government, 'single names or groups may be lifted from the international lists of terrorist organizations.'