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Poll: Majority of Afghans Back Talks With Taliban
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 a.m. EST
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An overwhelming majority of Afghans support the government's efforts to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents, according to a poll released Tuesday that ranks insecurity as the top concern among citizens, followed by unemployment and corruption.
Some 83 percent of Afghan adults back efforts to secure the country through negotiations with armed, anti-government groups, the survey conducted by the Asia Foundation said. That's up from 71 percent last year.
Moreover, 81 percent — 10 percent more than last year — support programs to lure Taliban foot soldiers off the battlefield by providing assistance, jobs and housing to those who lay down their arms and reintegrate into society.
President Hamid Karzai has made reconciliation a top priority and recently formed a 70-member High Peace Council to find a political solution to the war, now in its 10th year. Officials in both the government and the NATO military coalition in Afghanistan have confirmed that contacts are being made with top insurgent leaders, but say no formal peace talks are yet under way.
The Taliban has denied that any of their top leaders are talking with the government. However, reconciliation is gaining support across the war-weary nation, according to the poll. Nearly three quarters of all respondents think government reconciliation efforts will succeed in helping stabilize the country.
Support for a peace process is highest in areas where fighting is the most intense with 89 percent of Afghans in the east, and 85 percent in the southeast and northwest backing reconciliation talks, the survey said.
More than 6,400 adults were polled in June and July in all 34 provinces, excluding some dangerous areas. The survey, conducted with financial backing from the U.S. Agency for International Development, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The San Francisco-based Asia Foundation is a non-profit organization working for a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.
According to the survey, 37 percent believe insecurity is the nation's biggest problem, while 28 percent cited unemployment as the worst problem and 27 percent noted corruption, the poll said.
"Since 2006, insecurity and unemployment have consistently been identified as the biggest problems for the country as a whole," according to the more than 200-page report on the survey.
Rising numbers of Afghans are complaining about graft and bribery. Last year, 17 percent said corruption was the worst problem facing the nation. This year, that figure jumped to 27 percent.
"Respondents were asked whether they think corruption is a major problem, a minor problem or no problem at all in their daily life, their neighborhood, their local authorities, their provincial government and in Afghanistan as a whole," the report said. "The survey shows that the majority of Afghans think that corruption is a major problem in all facets of life and at all levels of government."
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 2:31 a.m. EST
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An overwhelming majority of Afghans support the government's efforts to negotiate peace with Taliban insurgents, according to a poll released Tuesday that ranks insecurity as the top concern among citizens, followed by unemployment and corruption.
Some 83 percent of Afghan adults back efforts to secure the country through negotiations with armed, anti-government groups, the survey conducted by the Asia Foundation said. That's up from 71 percent last year.
Moreover, 81 percent — 10 percent more than last year — support programs to lure Taliban foot soldiers off the battlefield by providing assistance, jobs and housing to those who lay down their arms and reintegrate into society.
President Hamid Karzai has made reconciliation a top priority and recently formed a 70-member High Peace Council to find a political solution to the war, now in its 10th year. Officials in both the government and the NATO military coalition in Afghanistan have confirmed that contacts are being made with top insurgent leaders, but say no formal peace talks are yet under way.
The Taliban has denied that any of their top leaders are talking with the government. However, reconciliation is gaining support across the war-weary nation, according to the poll. Nearly three quarters of all respondents think government reconciliation efforts will succeed in helping stabilize the country.
Support for a peace process is highest in areas where fighting is the most intense with 89 percent of Afghans in the east, and 85 percent in the southeast and northwest backing reconciliation talks, the survey said.
More than 6,400 adults were polled in June and July in all 34 provinces, excluding some dangerous areas. The survey, conducted with financial backing from the U.S. Agency for International Development, has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
The San Francisco-based Asia Foundation is a non-profit organization working for a peaceful and prosperous Asia-Pacific region.
According to the survey, 37 percent believe insecurity is the nation's biggest problem, while 28 percent cited unemployment as the worst problem and 27 percent noted corruption, the poll said.
"Since 2006, insecurity and unemployment have consistently been identified as the biggest problems for the country as a whole," according to the more than 200-page report on the survey.
Rising numbers of Afghans are complaining about graft and bribery. Last year, 17 percent said corruption was the worst problem facing the nation. This year, that figure jumped to 27 percent.
"Respondents were asked whether they think corruption is a major problem, a minor problem or no problem at all in their daily life, their neighborhood, their local authorities, their provincial government and in Afghanistan as a whole," the report said. "The survey shows that the majority of Afghans think that corruption is a major problem in all facets of life and at all levels of government."