Afghan Ethnic Minorities On Guard About Karzai Peace Initiatives

"PANJSHIR VALLEY, Afghanistan—President Hamid Karzai's moves to make peace with the Taliban are scaring Afghanistan's ethnic minorities into taking their weapons out of mothballs and preparing for a fight.  Mindful that Karzai's overtures come with NATO's blessing, and that U.S. and NATO forces will eventually leave, they worry that power will shift back into the hands of the forces they helped to overthrow in 2001. Such a peace deal won't be easy in a country with a complex ethnic makeup and a tradition of vendetta killings. With ethnic and tribal differences having sharpened during the violence of the last 30 years, there's little indication that Karzai's overtures are gaining much traction.  Still, some mujahedeen -- commanders of the Northern Alliance of minority groups that fought the Taliban -- are taking no chances. They speak openly of the weaponry they have kept despite a U.N. disarmament drive."

Read the rest of the article in "Wary of Taliban, Afghan mujahedeen ready for fight", The Boston Globe, November 13, 2010.