Aid Groups Negotiating with Taliban in Afghanistan

Aid groups working in Afghanistan are communicating with the Taliban in an effort to gain safe passage for its workers.  The independent NGOs are trying to put distance between their organizations and the coalition forces. 

"KABUL—Independent aid groups operating in Afghanistan are increasingly distancing themselves from the U.S.-led coalition and trying to forge safe-passage agreements with insurgents, betting that a show of neutrality will protect their work amid an intensifying war. The Taliban are reciprocating with a more moderate approach to some aid workers, while continuing attacks on those seen as affiliated with the coalition. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's supreme leader, recently issued formal instructions to help nongovernment organizations that register with them, Taliban officials say."

Read more in "Aid groups seek safety pacts with Taliban", The Wall Street Journal, November 22, 2010.