Karzai Presses Taliban Talks

As bloodshed escalates in Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai is pressing for negotiations with senior members of the Taliban, writes the Los Angeles Times. Foreign diplomats and members of Karzai's own government now believe that peace cannot be achieved by military means, and the president is hoping to achieve some form of national reconciliation by striking a deal.

Karzai has floated the possibility of amnesty and even government positions for Taliban who quit the organization and enter into talks. "There's more space than there's ever been for a solution to this other than endless conflict," said a UN spokesman in Kabul. About 5,700 people, many of them civilians, have died this year in Afghanistan. (More Hamid Karzai stories.)