Merkel Favors Negotiations With Taliban

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken out in favor of opening negotiations with the Taliban in Afghanistan, Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) reported.

Photo Insert: German Chancellor Angela Merkel

"Regarding the Taliban, the fact is that of course, we have to talk to them because they are now the ones who have to be addressed," Merkel told a press conference in Hagen, on the outskirts of the Ruhr region on Sunday.

She said that the aim was to ensure that in particular people who had worked for German development organizations and felt at risk could still be brought out of the country. Aid organizations must be able to provide for the suffering population.

Merkel was in the region to meet with people affected by the July floods that overwhelmed parts of western Germany.

The Christian Democrats' party leader Armin Laschet, a potential successor to Merkel as chancellor following September 26 elections, also said that it was necessary to talk to the Taliban.

The international community would then have to formulate clear conditions under which cooperation would be possible.

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