India and the U.S. on Tuesday joined the global community in backing Afghanistan government’s efforts to involve Taliban elements in the peace process but made it clear that amnesty should only be offered to those who had no links with al-Qaeda and other terror groups.
“The Afghan government’s Peace and Reintegration Programme is open to all Afghan members of the armed opposition and their communities, who renounce violence, have no link to international terrorist organisations, respect the Constitution and are willing to join in building a peaceful Afghanistan,” said a draft communique at the international conference on Afghanistan in Kabul.
Renewing his call to Taliban to lay down arms and join the peace process, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai outlined his commitment to take charge of the nation’s security by 2014.
Speaking at the key conference on Afghanistan’s future held in Kabul amidst a total lockdown of the capital city, Mr. Karzai said his government remained determined to take up the responsibility for all military and law enforcement operations by 2014.
As fears grow over the course of the nine-year-old war against terrorism in the wake of the Obama Administration’s plan to begin withdrawing U.S. forces from this country by 2011, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised that Americans and allies will continue to stand by Afghanistan.
Ms. Clinton said that the planned withdrawal of the troops was not a sign of flagging commitment.
“The July 2011 transition process is too important to push off indefinitely. But this date is a start of a new phase, not the end of our involvement,” she told the conference attended by a galaxy of leaders, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon, External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna and Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi.
Mr. Krishna said it is essential to ensure that “support, sustenance and sanctuaries for terrorist organisations from outside Afghanistan are ended forthwith.”
“The international community must learn lessons from past experiences at negotiating with fundamentalist and extremist organisations and ensure that any peace process is conducted in an inclusive and transparent manner,” Mr. Krishna said in a statement.
Pakistan Foreign Minister Qureshi said the transition process in Afghanistan should be gradual based on ground realities and not on calendar and deadlines.
“Afghanistan’s immediate neighbours have a special responsibility towards this country,” he said.
The day-long conference comes at a crucial juncture as U.S. and NATO forces are poised to launch major offensives in Kandahar and eastern Afghanistan against Taliban.
In her address, Ms. Clinton said the U.S. is encouraged by work the Karzai government has done to improve governance and combat corruption, but added that much work remains.
She also stressed that the rights of women in Afghanistan must not be sacrificed in pursuit of reconciliation with the Taliban.
The Afghan government has developed an ambitious plan aimed at reintegrating Taliban fighters who agree to lay down their weapons, renounce al-Qaeda and accept Afghanistan’s Constitution.
Ms. Clinton said the plan has created a useful framework, but added that progress will depend on whether insurgents wish to comply with the conditions.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki—moon, who co-hosted the conference with Mr. Karzai, appealed for unity among the Afghan people.
He called on the Afghan government to protect human rights and hold those responsible for rights violations accountable.
Earlier in the day, rockets were fired at the Kabul airport forcing the diversion of a plane carrying the U.N. Secretary General to Bagram airbase from where he flew in a Blackhawk helicopter.
