The rift between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the international coalition supporting his government widened yesterday when he challenged his allies to prevent him opening negotiations with Taliban leader, Mullah Omar.

During a news conference held Sunday, November 16, following his return from talks in London, President Karzai said he was willing to discuss peace with Mullah Omar and offered the Taliban leader asylum, if he agreed to talks.

London and Washington have repeatedly said they will not talk to Omar, whom they regard as a terrorist. But President Karzai defied the coalition by declaring, "If I say I want protection for Mullah Omar, the international community has two choices: remove me, or leave, if they disagree."

The security situation in Afghanistan has steadily worsened over the past year, with Taliban attacks on coalition troops and overseas aid workers becoming increasingly brazen, extending into the capital, Kabul. To add to coalition woes, a key supply route which passes through Pakistan is coming under increasingly effective attack from militants based there. On Sunday Pakistan suspended movement of supplies on the route amid heightened security fears.

President Karzai has criticized the United States-led coalition several times, mainly over the issue of Afghan civilian casualties. Several thousand civilians have been killed in the U.S.-led war on militants in Afghanistan over the past seven years, either by the Taliban or by foreign and Afghan troops. In the first week of November, 37 civilians were killed when a US air strike hit a wedding party in the southern province of Kandahar. In another bloody incident, on Aug. 22, 90 civilians were killed in a U.S. air strike in the Shindand district of western Herat province.

(China.org.cn by John Sexton, November 17, 2008 )