Taliban again reject Karzai offer to hold peace talks

* Top UN official urges Taliban to let polls go ahead saying it's in Afghanistan's interest




KABUL: A confident President Hamid Karzai offered peace talks to Taliban militants if they renounce violence and called for a new relationship with the West if he wins a second term in next month's presidential election.




Karzai is considered the favorite in the Aug. 20 vote. But his chances could hinge on his fellow Pashtuns in the turbulent south and east, where US and British forces this month have suffered some of their highest casualties of the eight-year war. His only serious competition in the 39-candidate field is believed to be former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, who could force a runoff if a low turnout among the Pashtuns, the country's biggest ethnic group and the heart of the Taliban ranks, prevents Karzai from claiming a majority of the votes.




In an interview Monday with The Associated Press in his office, Karzai reached out to disaffected Pashtuns, calling for a dialogue with Taliban members who are not affiliated with Al Qaeda and who are willing to repudiate violence "and announce that publicly." But the president said he was not yet prepared to discuss the key Taliban demand - a timetable for the withdrawal of all foreign troops - because he contends their continued presence is in the national interest.




"The Afghan people still want a fundamentally strong relation with the United States," Karzai said. "I also know and the Afghan people also know that the presence of international troops in Afghanistan is bringing stability to Afghanistan." Nevertheless, Karzai said the US and NATO presence must be based on a partnership where "the partners are not losing their lives, their property, their dignity as a consequence of that partnership."




A Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, rejected talks, saying the insurgents would not discuss a ceasefire with any government that was a "servant of the foreigners." He urged Afghans not to take part in next month's election. During the interview, Karzai also said he wants operations at the US-run prison at Bagram Air Base, where about 600 Afghans are held, re-evaluated and inmates released unless there is evidence linking them to terrorism.




Elections: The top UN official in Afghanistan on Tuesday urged Taliban militants not to disrupt landmark polls. "The security concerns are of course significant," said Kai Eide, the head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). "My message to everybody including Taliban is it is in the interests of each and every Afghan that elections can take place in each province, in each district, in each village, so that all Afghans can express their views and cast their vote." Eide said he was concerned about security in provinces where foreign and local forces are still battling Taliban rebels, but said it was "not in the interests of anybody" if large numbers of Afghans were unable to vote. agencies