The Prime Minister urged the Taliban to give up violence for politics and held
out Sinn Fein’s role in the devolved Belfast administration as an example of
the possible rewards.
Britain has confirmed that officials are in direct contact with some Taliban
members seeking a peace deal. However, Mr Cameron’s explicit offer of
power-sharing to a group that has killed hundreds of British service
personnel may raise eyebrows.
Speaking in Kabul after talks with President Hamid Karzai, Mr Cameron said
that Afghanistan’s long-term future was in a negotiated settlement with the
Taliban. As the West ends its military mission in the country, the Prime
Minister called for greater efforts to “reconcile and reintegrate” Taliban
members into Afghan politics.
The result could be an Ulster-style peace process, with government posts for
former Taliban members, he suggested. Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein
deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, is a former IRA commander.
Mr Cameron said: “The message to the Taliban is stop fighting, stop bombing,
stop killing. Join a political process and you can be part of the future of
this country.
“I have seen it in my own country, in Northern Ireland, where people who were
involved in trying to kill, maim and bomb civilians, police officers, Army
officers and even politicians are now politicians themselves, involved in
the governance of the country. It can happen.”
Praising the growing Afghan security forces, Mr Cameron told Taliban members:
“You cannot win this fight. You should give this up and join a political
process.”
Mr Cameron insisted that it was right to start withdrawing troops this year
and to end British combat operations in 2015.
“The British people deserve a deadline,’ he said. “I do believe this is the
right plan at the right time.”
Mr Cameron will tell MPs today that there will be a “modest” troop reduction
later this year.
But after resistance from his generals, combat forces will be unchanged until
next autumn, allowing commanders two “fighting seasons”.
Mr Cameron said that the military mission was succeeding. Violence was down 40
per cent on last summer, he said. The number of terrorist plots now linked
to the Afghan-Pakistan border area was also down, he said. He added: “I’m
confident we are on track.”
The Prime Minister pledged that British aid to Afghanistan would remain high
after the combat mission ends.
Only by supporting the Afghan government would Britain be safe from
international terrorism, he said. Abandoning the country could allow
al-Qaeda to return and plot more outrages such as the September 11 attacks
on America in 2001.
The Department for International Development is spending £700 million in
Afghanistan, a 40 per cent rise on previous plans.
The department’s budget is rising, despite the protests of Right-wing
Conservatives. Critics say that the money would be better spent at home, and
worry that much aid money is poorly spent. In a robust defence of his aid
policy, Mr Cameron said: “Afghanistan is a great example of a country where,
if we walk away, the problems will come back on our doorstep.
“We know because we walked away before, and the problem of drugs got worse,
the problem of terrorism got worse, the problem of extremism got worse, the
problem of asylum and immigration got worse.
“Even to people who are hard-headed — and possibly hard-hearted — about aid, I
would say the programme we have in Afghanistan, trying to help Afghanistan
have a stronger more stable government, is not just good for the Afghan
people, it is good for people back home in Britain as well.”
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