---

..."The Taliban has lost its morale," he said, speaking by satellite phone
from the heartlands of Zabul province, a Taliban redoubt.

"But you have to go and find the Taliban and call to them and ask them
directly. If they believe they will be secure and safe they will come
down from the mountains."

After the Taliban's three-year struggle against a superior US force,
there is growing optimism among the Americans and Afghan government that
the end is close.

More than 1,000 people have died in violence in the past 18 months, but
attacks have tailed off since the guerrillas failed to make good their
vow to disrupt the presidential election in October, which saw a huge
turnout and was won by Mr Karzai.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Afghanistan, said yesterday that a
group of Taliban militia including senior officials will soon join the
Afghan government's peace initiative...


--
"Propaganda does not deceive people; it merely
helps them to deceive themselves." Eric Hoffer
Med venlig hilsen
GB