Taliban leaders to be offered exile under Afghanistan peace plan
Jon Boone in Kabul
guardian.co.uk Wednesday 5 May 2010 20.34 BST

Top Taliban leaders could be offered exile outside Afghanistan if they agree to stop fighting the government of Hamid Karzai, a long-expected peace plan by the Afghan government will propose later this month.

The far-reaching proposals, seen by the Guardian, also call for "deradicalisation" classes for insurgents and thousands of new manual jobs created for foot soldiers who renounce violence. The long-delayed Afghan Peace and Reintegration Programme has emerged just as Karzai prepares to go to Washington for talks with Barack Obama, where the issue is likely to be top of the agenda.

The plan will then be presented later in the month to a gathering of representatives from across Afghanistan called the National Consultative Peace Jirga. Once agreed upon, the government will be able to start spending around $160m (£100m) pledged by the international community to lure fighters away from the conflict. The document refers to such fighters as "angry brothers", reflecting the belief that a substantial portion of insurgents are not motivated by strong ideological beliefs. (Cont..)