 Afghan President Hamid Karzai called here on Saturday on the United Nations to remove from its blacklist the names of Taliban leaders, who are not part of al-Qaeda, as a first step towards peace talks. | "I mean, what are a few heads among friends, anyway?" |
Karzai hailed Washington's new strategy for the "war on terror" in Afghanistan and Pakistan, including its mention of reconciliation with certain militants. "While we are speaking about the peace process with the Taliban, we must also make sure to provide the right environment for such a peace process," Karzai said. "Right environment means first of all looking at the list that is with the United Nations and removing names that are not part of al-Qaeda, that are not part of the terrorist networks," he said. "Those names must be removed from the list."
Karzai, however, dodged questions about whether he wanted Taliban supreme leader Mulla Omar, among those scratched from the list. |