Peace Talks With the Taliban?

A peace treaty with the Taliban was one of Hamid Karzai's important topics during his presidential campaign. "We must have peace - at any cost,” Karzai said recently.

Aleem Siddique from the United Nations says the West has more or less no other choice:

"There is a need for a peace process to begin as soon as possible," he says. "Military efforts alone will not succeed in this country. That peace process must be lead by the Afghan government and we at the UN are ready to facilitate that process."

Talks with whom?

Maulawi Arsala Rahmani is the Taliban's former minister of religion. Today he is a senator in the Afghan parliament. He has contacts to both sides and was present in previous talks that took place in Saudi Arabia. He agrees that talking is the only way out.

"The Taliban are definitely ready to talk," Rahmani says. "But they are waiting for a clear sign that the Americans are being sincere about it. That is what they haven't got yet."

So who should carry out the talks? And when should they begin? Like many others, Rahmani also believes there is no getting around Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who is likely to be hiding in Pakistan. Rahmani says he has the right contacts and the talks should proceed following a three-step plan. First, the Taliban members must be decriminalized. Then they must be allowed to set up their own representation. For the final round, the type of government must be negotiated, as well as the Taliban's role in it.

Conditions do apply

The Taliban are aware that the Afghan government has limited room for manoeuvre. And the same applies to the West too. It will be difficult enough to convince people in the West. It will be like telling them, "we are drinking tea now with the same people we called terrorists up until a few minutes ago."

It is clear to Maulawi Rahmani that the Taliban will definitely have to accept the country's constitution, including women's rights. At the same time the extremists must be assured that their families and their homes will not be jeopardized and that they will not land in jail. Only then could the talks commence.

"As long as the Taliban don't have the assurance that they can come back to Afghanistan and live where ever they want, and that they will be able to participate in the political process, they will continue to be dependent on the terrorist organization Al Qaeda. Or on the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. In this war, they are taking all the support they can get."

But as of now, not even the first step has been taken. There is still not enough trust on either side. At the same time, the West thinks as long as the Taliban isn't faced with a military threat, they will not come to the round table for talks.

Author: Kai Küstner / Sarah Berning
Editor: Grahame Lucas