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Afghan leader: Need to reconcile with Taliban

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-02-08 20:01

MUNICH -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai says the only way for Afghanistan to succeed is to reconcile with some members of the Taliban.

The President of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, center, German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung, left, and US National Security Advisor James Jones attend the Munich Conference on Security Policy, Sicherheitskonferenz, at the hotel "Bayerischer Hof" in Munich , southern Germany, Sunday, Feb.8 , 2009. [Agencies]

Karzai says "there is no way we can succeed the way we want to in the right time without some form of reconciliation."

He says that means inviting "all of those Taliban who are not part of al-Qaida, who are not part of terrorist networks" to return to their homes.

During a security conference in Germany on Sunday he called on the international community to "back us fully" in this effort.