Brown in hot seat over 'Taliban contacts'

LONDON (AFP) - Claims that top officials talked to the Taliban in Afghanistan threatened fresh embarrassment Thursday for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who had previously ruled out negotiations with the militia.
Two senior officials — the second most senior European Union official in the country and a top UN political advisor — have been expelled by the Afghan govt amid claims they had contacts with the Taliban.
In addition, Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper said that agents from Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service MI6 repeatedly met Taliban representatives earlier this year.
Talking to the Taliban would be in contradiction to Brown’s stated policy of not talking to a militia that is currently fighting 7,000 British troops as part of an international force in Afghanistan, critics said.
“We will not enter into any negotiations with these people,” Brown told lawmakers earlier this month.
He added, though, that he supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s efforts at reconciliation, adding that there was a place in society for former insurgents if they were prepared to renounce violence.