Word: talibans
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Indian accusations of a Pakistani hand in last week's Mumbai massacre couldn't have come at a worse time for the government in Islamabad: As a Taliban insurgency continues to simmer in the tribal areas along the Afghan border, clashes on Sunday between rival political groups in the southern metropolis of Karachi killed 13 people and wounded 70. The country is on the verge of economic collapse, its desperate pleas for financial assistance from China and Saudi Arabia last month having been rebuffed, forcing Pakistan to accept loans from the International Monetary Fund - but those loans come with stern...
...pictures of the battle against the Taliban...
Mullah Brother, deputy leader of the Taliban, rejected Karzai's offer, telling Reuters via satellite telephone, "We are safe in Afghanistan and we have no need for Hamid Karzai's offer of safety.? He added that foreign forces had to leave before the start of any negotiations. "As long as foreign occupiers remain in Afghanistan, we aren't ready for talks because they hold the power and talks won't bear fruit ... The problems in Afghanistan are because of them." To further underscore the Taliban's rejection of Karzai?s offer, a suicide bomber killed four people today...
Karzai, on the other hand, may see some political advantage in extending an offer that most likely will be refused. Coupled with his offer to the Taliban was an admonishment to his international backers, who have bristled at the idea of negotiating with Mullah Omar in the past. "If I say I want protection for Omar, then the international community has two choices: remove me or leave if they disagree," said Karzai. "If I am removed [by force by the western alliance] in the cause of peace for Afghanistan ... then I'll be very happy...
Wadir Safi, a professor of international relations at Kabul University, says Karzai's speech directly contradicts his platform of several months ago, when he called on lower-ranking Taliban to reconcile but ruled out negotiations with avowed enemies of Afghanistan, like Omar. Karzai's recent trips to both the U.S. and London, where the Afghan president was criticized for his inability to stabilize his country, crack down on corruption and stop the narcotics trade, may have precipitated the about-face, says Safi. "What he said [on Sunday] was not based on analysis but political survival. He knows he is losing...