Afghanistan's Karzai moots Taliban peace scheme

Afghan President Hamid Karzai: ""We must have peace at any cost"

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told the BBC he plans to introduce a scheme to attract Taliban fighters back to normal life by offering money and jobs.

He would offer to pay and resettle Taliban fighters to come over to his side, with the scheme funded by the international community.
He said the UK and US would show at a conference next week in London that they had decided to back his new plan.
Japan is one of the countries which, he said, is prepared to put up the money.
The Taliban currently pay their volunteers, who are often just farmers, significantly more than the Afghan government can afford to give its forces.
President Karzai said the Afghan people had to have peace at any price.
War was not the only way forward and there had to be proper peace activity and reconciliation.
Previously, he said, Britain, the US and other Western countries had not been happy about the idea. Now they had changed their minds.
He stressed that Taliban supporters who were members of al-Qaeda or other terrorist networks would not be accepted. But anyone who accepted the Afghan constitution and did not have an ideological opposition to it could return.
Lame duck perception
Doing deals with his enemies is a bold approach, but as President Karzai enters his second term of office he knows he must get an agreement.

My presidency is weak in regard to the means of power, which means money, which means equipment, which means manpower, which means capacity Hamid Karzai Taliban's grim message from Kabul Q&A: Foreign forces in Afghanistan

Many of his own people, as well as the Western powers, regard him as a lame-duck president.
In the past, his ability to run Afghanistan has been limited by the powers of the warlords, and by the high level of corruption.
With considerable frankness, he accepted that there was some truth in this.
"Yes," he said, "my presidency is weak in regard to the means of power, which means money, which means equipment, which means manpower, which means capacity."
The clear implication was that if he got these things, he could start to run the country as he wanted.
If there was agreement at next week's conference in London, Afghanistan would be in a position to run its own affairs.
In five years, he said, Afghanistan could be controlling its own security and leading the fight in the country against corruption and the drugs industry.
But he is still smarting from the heavy criticism he got from the Americans and British about the way last August's presidential election was run. He insists it was a concerted effort by the West to undermine him.
"Unfortunately our election was very seriously mistreated by our Western allies," he said.
Now, though, he had to depend on them to help him. Could he trust them?
"We trust them because we are in a relationship together," he replied.
President Karzai angrily rejected a suggestion earlier this week by a UN agency that nearly a quarter of Afghanistan's GDP was swallowed up by corruption.
Nevertheless, he said, "if you expect us to be a First World country, you are making a mistake".

GM confirms Opel factory closure in Antwerp

GM had previously said it would cut 9,000 jobs in Europe General Motors (GM) has confirmed it will close a Belgian plant at its European arm Opel, cutting 2,300 jobs. The CSC metalworkers' union said the carmaker had told staff it would shut down its factory in Antwerp. "It is the tough reality of the current business environment," Opel president Nick Reilly said. GM also said 8,300 jobs would be cut across Europe - less than it had previously estimated - with 4,000 to be lost in Germany alone. In November, GM had said that it would cut about 9,000 jobs in Europe, after cancelling its planned sale of Opel to Canadian car parts maker Magna. Reduce capacity The company said it needs to cut Opel's capacity by 20%. "We have to take a plant out and unfortunately it is Antwerp," Mr Reilly said. In its November announcement, GM had said that as well as the Belgian job cuts, some 5,425 jobs in Germany and 900 from its Zaragoza plant in Spain would also go. In the UK, GM has cut 354 jobs at its Vauxhall plant in Luton, but has stated that there would be no cuts at its Ellesmere Port plant, which makes the Vauxhall Astra. GM has also failed to sell its Swedish car brand Saab and is starting to wind down the operation, though some buyers have still expressed interest in it.

Nigeria - Mass funerals in Jos riots

The easing of the curfew will allow people to go out to find food and water

Mass funerals have been taking place in the central Nigerian city of Jos, where fighting between Muslims and Christians has left hundreds dead.

A BBC reporter in the region says the easing of a 24-hour curfew has allowed religious leaders to organise burials.
A Red Cross official in Jos told the BBC he had seen scores of bodies on the streets, but the army was in control.
He said some of the 17,000 displaced people were returning home, but others had decided to flee the city itself.
At least 65 Christians and 200 Muslims are believed to have died.

In pictures: Nigeria riot aftermath

"A lot of people have died but it is very difficult to determine the number because this thing happened in various locations," Abdul Umar, the Red Cross's disaster manager co-ordinator, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.
"There are dead bodies that are still hidden," he said, adding that many people had gunshot and machete wounds.
The 24-hour curfew has been eased to allow city residents to leave their homes between 1000 and 1700 local time.
"People are going about their businesses while some people are packing their belongings and fleeing town, which is natural after a situation such as this," he said.
The BBC's Shehu Saulawa in neighbouring Bauchi State says there are reports of isolated attacks on the outskirts of the city, which Mr Umar confirmed.
Balarabe Dawud, head of the Central Mosque in Jos, appealed for killings not to avenged.
"Whatever action one takes, can't bring these people back," he said pointing to a burial pit, reports the AFP news agency.
Youth detained
Nigeria's Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told the BBC those behind the violence would be prosecuted.

JOS, PLATEAU STATE Deadly riots in 2001 and 2008 City divided into Christian and Muslim areas Divisions accentuated by system of classifying people as indigenes and settlers Hausa-speaking Muslims living in Jos for decades are still classified as settlers Settlers find it difficult to stand for election Divisions also exist along party lines: Christians mostly back the ruling PDP; Muslims generally supporting the opposition ANPP

Mr Umar said the police had detained more than 250 youths in connection with the clashes.
"We got access to them through the police and we have treated most of them that are injured and we provided water and food," he said.
It is unclear what the trigger was for the latest bout of violence, but there have been reports it started after football match.
Other reports suggested it began after an argument over the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the 2008 clashes.
Jos has been blighted by religious violence over the past decade with deadly riots in 2001 and 2008.
The city is in Nigeria's volatile Middle Belt - between the mainly Muslim north and the south where the majority is Christian or follow traditional religions.
Correspondents say such clashes in Nigeria are often blamed on sectarianism.
However, poverty and access to resources such as land often lie at the root of the violence.