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Pentagon sees no reconciliation with Al Qaeda

BUDAPEST: The United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghanistan government pursued talks to end the war, US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday. “Washington would not consider any negotiations with Al Qaeda,” Gates told reporters after his first day of NATO meetings in Budapest. Gates said reconciliation would be the political end to the insurgency and war in Afghanistan but, he said, reconciliation must be on the Afghan government’s terms and the Taliban must commit to subject itself to the sovereignty of the government. Meanwhile, General David McKiernan said on Thursday that he backed a ‘political solution’ to the country’s dragging conflict with the Taliban. “But I do believe that ultimately the solution here in this country will be a political solution and not a military one,” he told AFP. reuters/afp

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