Nato to keep fighting Taliban, says Rasmussen

Anders Fogh Rasmussen was speaking after Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal the U.S. and Afghan governments had begun secret three-way meetings with the Taliban to try to bolster U.S.-led efforts to convene fully-fledged peace talks.The stronger the military pressure on the Taliban, the better the chance that they realise they have no chance whatsoever militarily, so (they had) better go to the negotiation table, he told reporters during a trip to Greece.We will keep up the military pressure that will also facilitate a political solution, added Rasmussen.Karzais government had previously been excluded from early contacts between the Taliban and the United States, with the insurgents seen as resisting the involvement of a local administration they regard as a puppet of Washington.The Afghan ambassador to Pakistan told Reuters on Thursday any contacts between the Afghan Taliban and the United States had been only exploratory.When theres talks, its supposed to be between the Afghan government and the Taliban. We have not reached that stage although we wish to reach that stage, Umar Daudzai said in Islamabad.Rasmussen said the Afghan government must be in the drivers seat of any negotiations and that any parties involved must renounce terrorism and respect the Afghan constitution, including clauses on womens rights and other human rights.I dont know whether it will be possible to find a negotiated solution ... If these conditions are fulfilled, I think we should give it a try, he said.The United States and NATO are racing against the clock to train a 350,000-strong force of Afghan police and soldiers who will take over all security responsibilities before end-2014.The Taliban on Wednesday compared the situation to the humiliating Soviet pullout from Afghanistan 23 years earlier, when Moscow handed over to a shaky government under President Najibullah that was then attacked by fighters.Najibullahs government held them off for three years.--Reuters