‘Fund mooted to win over surrendering Taliban’

LONDON - Surrendering Taliban fighters will be offered money from an international ‘trust fund’ being proposed by the British government, a newspaper reported Friday.

British officials want a coordinated international initiative, described by some as a kind of trust fund, to be a key objective of a global conference on Afghanistan in London Jan 28, the Guardian reported.

British Foreign Minister David Miliband said Thursday he hoped the conference would agree to a “reintegration programme” to help return to civilian life those Afghans who had joined the Taliban but were not committed to its ideology.

“The insurgency… relies heavily on the support or acquiescence of ordinary citizens, most of whom despise the Taliban but fear reprisal attacks were they to resist, Miliband told the British parliament.

“But with the right political strategy and the right balance of military muscle and political outreach we can exploit those divisions.”