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Brown under pressure on “talks” with Taliban

LONDON: The British government was on Thursday under pressure to explain whether it had been in secret talks with senior Taliban figures despite Prime Minister Gordon Brown ruling out any negotiations with militants.

The row followed a Daily Telegraph report claiming that agents from MI6 held secret talks or jirgas with Taliban leaders “up to half a dozen times” over the summer. It also claimed that Americans were reportedly “extremely unhappy” over the development.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said it did not comment on intelligence matters but insisted that the government remained committed to its policy of “not engaging” with the Taliban.

“We support the Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai’s policy of not negotiating with the Taliban. We also support the Afghanistan government’s policy of trying to win over former members of the Taliban,” the spokesperson told The Hindu.

Officials, however, pointed out that given the nature of the situation in Afghanistan it was not possible to avoid contacts with the Taliban altogether if the ultimate goal was to stop the insurgency and restore peace in the country.

“Given the character of a country such as Afghanistan, it would be inconceivable not to come across people who at some point will have had links to the Talban, but that does not mean that we are following a policy of engagement with the Taliban,” one official said. The opposition said Mr. Brown had “some explaining to do”.

Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox opposed any talks with “people who are killing our troops”.

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