| US supports Taliban reintegration plan: Holbrook |
Updated at: 0600 PST, Monday, January 18, 2010 KABUL: The US is ready to support a new Afghan plan to reintegrate thousands of Taliban fighters, US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke said on Saturday.Talking to reporters on a visit to Kabul, Holbrooke said the plan could not be worse than past efforts and Washington supports the programme, media reported. Afghanistan’s government is expected to announce details of the plan this month, which diplomats said would include jobs training and economic incentives to lure fighters from the hills. Holbrooke said he discussed the issue with President Hamid Karzai on Saturday and he believed it was a “good plan”. “We are ready to support it,” he said, declining to offer any details of the programme. Previous efforts to win over Taliban fighters failed miserably because little attempt was made to offer protection or financial incentives. The new programme comes at a time when the insurgency is at its strongest, and fighters who think victory is in sight may be less interested in any offer. Holbrooke said the latest initiative would be different, although he did not specify how. “It can’t be worse (than previous efforts),” he said. He described a visit he took to eastern Afghanistan several years ago when he interviewed five fighters who had turned themselves in. “It was a failure. They did not think promises were kept. We have to learn from the past. That is what we are here for.” Holbrooke said many Taliban would return to civilian life if given the chance. “There are a lot of people out there fighting for the Taliban who have no ideological commitment to the principles, values or political movement led by Mullah Omar,” he said, referring to the Taliban leader. “This is not easy to do but if you don’t do it, you give people only two choices, kill or get killed,” he said. Swat: He said the brutality of Taliban attacks in northwest Pakistan had cost the Taliban public support, media reported. Holbrooke said the ruthlessness of terrorists like Hakeemullah Mehsud is beginning to “backfire” on the extremist network’s operation in the Swat valley. He said the Pakistani military cleared the Swat valley with less difficulty than expected. The US must mobilise international support to rebuild the area and continue to increase economic aid to Pakistan, he said. |
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