Afghan govt, allies approaching Taliban for talks: Report

New York, Oct 30 (PTI) As part of a broad political effort to stem violence in the war-torn country, Afghan government and its allies in the region -- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- are approaching the Taliban and other insurgent groups with new intensity to test possibilities for eventual peace talks, a media report here said Thursday.

The diplomatic approaches have been stepped up over the
last several months by the Afghan government, as well as by
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, the New York Times said quoting
Western diplomats and Afghan officials.

They are part of a political effort to stem the downward
spiral of violence in Afghanistan and the steep decline of
public support for the government during a year that has
proved to be the bloodiest of the past seven, the paper said.

Security has deteriorated to the point that a growing
chorus of Western diplomats, N.A.T.O. commanders and Afghans
has begun to argue that the insurgency cannot be defeated
solely by military means, the Times noted, adding that some
officials in Kabul contend that the war against the insurgents
cannot be won and are calling for negotiations.

The readiness of Saudi Arabia to sponsor talks between
the Taliban and the Afghan government is especially important,
Western diplomats told the Times.

"It is part of a political effort that needs to be made
inside and outside the country to ensure that the military
effort is complemented in the right ways," one diplomat was
quoted as saying.

Important parts of the strategy would be to exploit what
diplomats here say are fissures in the Taliban, to separate
what amounts to day-wage fighters from the movement's
hard-core elements, whom many officials consider to be
"irreconcilable," and to divide the Taliban from al-Qaeda, the
Times said. PTI DS