The new United Nations envoy to Afghanistan said Wednesday any peace talks with the Taliban must be Afghan-led in order to be successful.
Jan Kubis said that no major party should be excluded from the discussions. Kubis took over the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan from Staffan de Mistura, who held the post until the end of 2011. Kubis has been meeting with Afghan officials, including President Hamid Karzai, since arriving in Afghanistan last week.
Despite calls by U.N. and U.S. officials that peace talks with the Taliban be Afghan-led, the insurgent group has not included the Afghan government in its comments about peace negotiations. Instead, the Taliban has called the government led by President Karzai a “stooge” administration.
In France Wednesday, President Nicolas Sarkozy honored four French soldiers shot dead last week in central Kapisa province by an Afghan soldier during a training exercise. In a somber ceremony in the southeastern town of Varces, Mr. Sarkozy said “we will not allow ourselves to be impressed by this barbarism.”
After Friday's shooting, President Sarkozy suspended military operations in Afghanistan and said he was considering an early pullout from the country if security conditions are not clearly established.
Separately, NATO said a bomb attack killed one of its service members in southern Afghanistan Wednesday. The coalition did not give further details.
Earlier this month, the Taliban said it reached a preliminary agreement to open a political office in Qatar. President Karzai says his government will accept the liaison office, despite his preference for it to be located in Afghanistan.
During a visit to Kabul earlier this week, U.S. Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman also endorsed the Taliban's move to open a diplomatic office in Qatar.
But he and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have said that the Taliban must renounce terrorism and endorse peace initiatives if they want to take part in talks to end the 10-year Afghan war. The U.S. embassy in Kabul Wednesday reiterated the need for those steps, including breaking ties with al-Qaida, ending violence and respecting the Afghan constitution, including its protections for women and minorities.
