New Delhi: British prime minister Gordon Brown has denied reports that his country was open to negotiating with the Taliban.
“Our objective is to defeat the insurgency by isolating and eliminating the leadership. And I make it clear we will not enter into any negotiations with these people,” said Brown.
Brown had been quoted as telling militant groups that they should lay down their arms. He exhorted them to join the political process in Afghanistan, saying that theirs would be a legitimate role to play.
''If they (the Taliban) are prepared to renounce violence and abide by the Constitution and respect basic human rights, then there is a place for them in the legitimate society and economy of Afghanistan,'' Brown said in an address to the Afghan parliament in Kabul, where he was engaged in talks with President Hamid Karzai.
He said that NATO was winning the war there and that Britain would send more troops to the country. Almost 8,000 British troops currently serve there.
Senior British government sources said that the multi-point programme would involve Afghan leaders reaching out to the lower-level Taliban soldiers who might be wishing to escape the movement but refuted all suggestions that any higher-level negotiations would be undertaken.
''This is about splitting the Taliban,'' said a source.
With inputs from Reuters
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