Karzai holds peace talks with insurgent faction

[laststeamtrain]

Source: Reuters

Karzai holds peace talks with insurgent faction

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai has met a senior delegation from the insurgent group Hezb-i-Islami, Karzai's office said on Monday, a first step toward a possible separate peace with a militant faction that rivals the Taliban.

The meeting amounts to Karzai's first confirmed direct contact with the faction, one of the three main groups fighting his government and the U.S. and NATO troops that support it.

Although the talks appeared to be preliminary, the public acknowledgment of the meeting was itself a significant milestone after many months of furtive efforts to reach out.

An eventual peace deal could signal a split in the insurgency and alter the balance of power on the ground as Karzai seeks to woo fighters off the battlefield while Western troops face off for a decisive year of combat with the Taliban.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE62L0PT20100322

[NJmaverick]

1. This is good news

If these peace talks succeed, it will weaken the Taliban and free up thousands of troops.

[laststeamtrain]

2. Here's the peace-y good part: withdrawal of foreign forces beginning in July of 2010

The 15-point-plan is said to include a provision calling for the withdrawal of foreign forces beginning in July of 2010, a full year before the Obama administration's stated deadline,

[Alamuti Lotus]

3. One of the nastiest warlords in play

The Taliban had the right idea in the first place when they exiled Hekmatyar back in 1997; you can have him as a friend if you dare.