US News

Afghan Taliban suspends peace talks with US, Karzai pushes for early troop pullback

KABUL — Afghanistan’s Taliban on Thursday suspended peace talks with the US, in the wake of the alleged massacre of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier and burning of copies of the Koran.

“It was due to their [the US] alternating and ever-changing position that the Islamic Emirate was compelled to suspend all dialogue with the Americans,” the group said in a statement posted on its website.

The insurgent group said dialogue was suspended until the US “shows willingness to fulfill their promises,” the statement said.

The Taliban was also suspending talks with the Afghan government, describing the dialogue as “pointless.”

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Sunday’s incident in Kandahar came just weeks after the burning of Korans at an American base sparked deadly riots across Afghanistan.

Meetings between Taliban emissaries and the US in recent months have centered on opening a Taliban office in the Persian Gulf emirate of Qatar.

The talks are part of an effort for a negotiated end to the 10-year war.

Shortly before the Taliban suspended talks, Afghan president Hamid Karzai asked the US to withdraw its troops from Afghan villages and to confine them to bases.

The dramatic request, which Karzai’s office said was made during a meeting with US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, would — if accepted — essentially end the US combat role just as the annual Taliban spring offensive begins, The Wall Street Journal reported.

There are currently some 90,000 US troops in the country.

While the Taliban left the door open to resuming the talks, Karzai’s move had potentially more far-reaching ramifications. “Not a single foreign soldier should enter Afghan homes, and the entire attention should switch to the country’s reconstruction and economic assistance,” the Afghan president’s statement said.

Under current plans, the US and its allies are supposed to withdraw most combat forces by the end of 2014, transferring security responsibilities to the Afghan army and police.

Karzai said Thursday that “Afghanistan is right now ready to completely take all security responsibilities, so we demand a speedy transition and the handover of responsibility to the Afghans.”

About 1,000 Afghans took to the streets Thursday to protest against the mass killing of 16 civilians in a rampage by a US soldier and the earlier unintentional burning of Korans by US soldiers, police said.

Shouting anti-American slogans, the demonstrators poured into the main town of Qalat, in Zabul Province neighboring Kandahar, where the shooting spree took place Sunday, regional police spokesman Hekmatullah Kochai told AFP.

The protesters were demanding a public trial for the shooter, identified as a 38-year-old US Army sergeant who has since been flown out of Afghanistan.

FOX News Channel, citing army sources, said he was in Kuwait. Pentagon spokesman Capt. John Kirby said the decision to remove him was made because there was no appropriate detention facility inside the country.

Obama on Wednesday confirmed his commitment to the current 2014 drawdown schedule as British Prime Minister David Cameron made his first official visit to the US.

“Today, the prime minister and I reaffirmed the transition plan that we agreed to with our coalition partners,” Obama said in a joint press conference, confirming that the US planned to shift to a “support role” in 2013 in advance of Afghanistan taking over responsibility for its security in 2014.

Obama batted down speculation the US and its allies would pull out of Afghanistan quicker than originally planned after a Koran-burning at a US base last month touched off a wave of deadly protests and a rogue US soldier allegedly gunned down 16 Afghan villagers over the weekend.

The president conceded “the tragic events of recent days are a reminder that this continues to be a very difficult mission,” though he said he did not expect any “sudden additional changes to the plan we currently have.”

Cameron echoed his sentiments, telling reporters in the White House Rose Garden, “We will not give up on this mission because Afghanistan must never again be a safe haven for al Qaeda to launch attacks against us.”

The prime minister added, “We won’t build a perfect Afghanistan. Although, let’s be clear, we are making some tangible progress with more markets open, more health centers working, more children going to school, more people able to achieve a basic standard of living and security.”