Thursday, November 13, 2008

Taliban will never talk to the west

The Taliban will never enter into peace negotiations with any Afghan or Western authorities while foreign forces still remain in Afghanistan, and will continue to fight for the country's "freedom," a spokesman told CBC's As It Happens on Thursday.

Speaking on the telephone through an interpreter to host Carol Off from an undisclosed location in Afghanistan, Taliban spokesman Qari Yusuf Ahmadi said peace talks would mean "we are playing with the future of the nation and it will be not good for the nation."

"We will never talk to anyone. We are not ready for peace talks," said Ahmadi.

He rejected suggestions that there may be some dissenting elements of the Taliban that favour negotiating with Afghan or Western parties, adding the Taliban is a group united under one leader — Mullah Omar, who went into hiding seven years ago.

Ahmadi's comments echo those made by other senior Taliban leaders of late, who have spurned recent attempts by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reach out to them.
Defends suicide attacks

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