Taliban attackieren Friedenskonferenz - Beobachter zweifeln an Erfolg des Treffens

Kurz nach der Eröffnung der Friedens-Dschirga in Afghanistans ist es zu mehreren Explosionen  und Schusswechseln in der Nähe des Veranstaltungsgeländes gekommen. Ein Selbstmordattentäter sprengte sich in die Luft, zwei Andere wurden erschossen, ein dritter Attentäter soll festgenommen worden sein. Ersten Erkenntnissen zufolge gab es außer dem Täter keine weiteren Toten oder Verletzten. Während Karsais Eröffnungsrede war es zu einer ersten schweren Detonation gekommen. Der Präsident rief die  etwa 1.600 Delegierten zur Ruhe auf und setzte seine Ansprache fort. Entgegen ersten Berichten fuhr er danach mit seinem gepanzerten Konvoi davon. Zunächst war berichtet worden, Karsai habe die Rede unterbrochen und sei überstürzt aufgebrochen. Die Taliban bekannten sich zu dem Angriff. Im Vorfeld hatten sie die Veranstaltung als nutzlos abgelehnt und deswegen boykottiert. Aber auch andere Oppositionelle hatten die Veranstaltung als reine Propaganda kritisiert. Mehr als 12.000 Sicherheitskräfte sind im Einsatz um das Treffen von hochrangigen Stammesführern, Politikern und Geistlichen zu schützen.

Das TIME-Magazin schrieb im Vorfeld des Treffens am 27.Mai 2010 über das Mißtrauen sowohl von afghanischer, als auch von internationaler Seite:

But others say that regardless of the reason, multiple postponements and the government's failure to articulate a clear plan for the meeting have caused the traditional Afghan assembly to lose momentum and that by this point, it's unlikely to yield much of anything. "I would be very interested to see what the outcome of the jirga will be, or if there will even be an outcome at all," says a high-ranking European diplomat. 

The three-day jirga has already been subject to criticisms ranging from a lack of legitimacy — jirgas are a traditional Afghan legal practice but are not governed by Afghan law — to accusations of being a political stunt by Karzai ahead of July's Kabul Conference, when Afghanistan's international partners are scheduled to discuss the country's future.

But few in Kabul seem optimistic about any potential results of the jirga. And most civilians and low-ranking government bureaucrats interviewed by TIME this week admitted that they were not aware of the jirga's actual purpose — if one would even occur. "It's not important; it's just bulls___," says Mohamed Azim, a former NATO interpreter who quit his job in frustration with what he saw as a lack of progress. "It's all extra expenses to show the people that they are working and thinking about the people. Go make schools with that money. Give it to the poor people."

Die britische Times macht auf den Unterschied zwischen offizieller Rhetorik und den Einschätzungen hinter vorgehaltener Hand aufmerksam und schreibt heute:

The Taleban rejected the meeting as “phoney” and insurgents loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the leader of the second-largest militant group, are said to have refused to take part. Mirwais Yasini, the Speaker of Afghanistan’s lower house, who contested last year’s elections, said that the jirga would fail without representatives of the Taleban.

Diplomats and military officials maintained an optimistic public rhetoric. “The United States reiterates our support for an Afghan-led process of reconciliation and reintegration that seeks to bring back into society those who cease violence, break ties with al-Qaeda and affiliated groups, and live under the Afghan Constitution,” the US Embassy said in a statement. 

General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, said that the conference was an appropriate way forward, adding: “The way ahead cannot be war. [There] has to be a resolution.”

The approach to negotiations is supposed to include reconciliation with the insurgents’ leaders, who are thought to be hiding in Pakistan, in tandem with a Nato-backed initiative to lure the Taleban’s footsoldiers out of the combat with promises of money, vocational training, amnesty and jobs. 

Privately, many Western officials are concerned that the peace conference will prove little more than an extravagant talking shop to rubber stamp the President’s control over a massive international trust fund for buying off the low-ranking fighters.