Two thirds of the British public favour direct peace talks between the United States and the Taliban
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying ‘repeatedly’ to salvage peace talks with the US and Taliban, following the Afghan president Hamid Karzai’s withdrawal from what was hoped to be a “major milestone” in the twelve-year war. Today, new YouGov research finds the British public strongly behind Mr Kerry.
Two thirds of the British public (67%) are in favour of the “US government engaging in direct peace talks with the Taliban over the war in Afghanistan” while only 13% oppose the discussions.
A spokesman for Hamid Karzai has said Afghanistan withdrew from the talks over “contradictions” in the US proposals; while one of Afghanistan’s conditions for engaging the Taliban was for them to renounce violence, the US President Barack Obama did not include a ceasefire in the negotiations.
The Taliban had suggested it may meet one of the US demands to break ties with al-Qaida, however they infuriated Mr Karzai by displaying the flag used by the group when they ruled from Kabul, and claimed responsibility for a missile attack that killed four Americans on the same day the talks were announced. The US government say they are still committed to making the talks happen.
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