Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday the West was starting to realise the war in Afghanistan cannot be won militarily and that the peace process must involve reaching out to the Taliban. More than nine years after their ouster from power by US-backed forces, the Taliban have made a comeback in Afghanistan despite the presence of some 140,000 foreign troops led by Nato and the US military.
Karzai will host a grand assembly of Afghans later this month to present his draft for negotiations with the Taliban and to seek advice from delegates on peace moves. The draft pushes for the removal of the names of insurgent leaders from a UN sanctions list and possibly giving them asylum overseas.
Karzai told a news conference in Kabul he had held "extensive discussions about the peace process" with US President Barack Obama during a three-day visit to Washington last week. "And they showed explicit support in this regard," said Karzai, whose relations with the US government have been strained in recent years.
Karzai, leader of Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban, said after years of debate the West had begun to realise the need to reach out to the Taliban. "When (in the past) we were speaking to them (West) about us talking to the Taliban, they would worry and said 'What do you mean of this? And (talks) with who?'," he said.