U.S. is part of the Afghan-led reconciliation process with the Taliban and it strongly believes that an end to the conflict in Afghanistan will come through political reconciliation, the White House said.
“As you know almost all insurgencies come to an end through a political settlement, a political reconciliation. We believe that an end to the conflict in Afghanistan will come when there is a political reconciliation,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said.
The United States, he said, has supported the Afghan-led process of reconciliation.
“The principles we have put forward with regard to that process is that any Taliban who want to participate in that reconciliation process and in those negotiations would have to renounce al-Qaeda, lay down their arms, cease violence, and pledge allegiance, if you will, to the Afghan constitution and its requirement that the rights of minorities and women are respected,” he said in response to a question.
“We keep the Afghan government abreast of any conversations that we have. But it would not be helpful to the process to name individuals or get too specified about it,” he said.
The principles that U.S. laid out for the process, Carney said, were very clear. “What is indisputable is that the President’s policy in Afghanistan, his strategy, his military strategy, has helped prepare the ground for this process.
“But you should also be sure that the military campaign continues even as this process takes place,” Mr. Carney added.
