Miliband Wants Talks With Taliban

After some of the bloodiest weeks in the Afghanistan conflict to date - with 20 UK troops killed this month alone - there has been a call to engage the insurgents in talks.

The Foreign Secretary David Miliband wants the Afghan government to hold talks with elements of the Taliban.

Mr Miliband said the insurgency was "divided", with many of those fighting against international forces doing so for "pragmatic" rather than ideological reasons.

He said the Afghan authorities should offer incentives to persuade insurgents to switch sides.

Speaking at Nato's headquarters in Brussels,he also called for the UK's Nato allies to take up a greater share of the military burden in Afghanistan.

Mr Miliband said the insurgents were being squeezed by military operations either side of the Durand Line separating Afghanistan from Pakistan.

"From this position, we need to help the Afghan government exploit the opportunity, with a more coherent effort to fragment the various elements of the insurgency, and turn those who can be reconciled to live within the Afghan Constitution.

"The basis for both reintegration and reconciliation is a starker choice: bigger incentives to switch sides and stay out of trouble, alongside tougher action against those who refuse," he said.

"The Afghan government needs effective grass-roots initiatives to offer an alternative to fight or flight for the foot soldiers of the insurgency.

"Essentially this means a clear route for former insurgents to return to their villages and go back to farming the land, or a role for some of them within the legitimate Afghan security forces."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence is expected to name a soldier who died while on a vehicle patrol in Lashkar Gah District, central Helmand Province, on Saturday morning. He was from the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery, and the 20th British serviceman to die in Afghanistan this month.

(BMcC/JM)