Afghan President Reaches Out to Taliban

UNITED NATIONS - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday his government is working very hard on peace talks with the Taliban that would bring the insurgents and their supporters "back to the fold."

Karzai said the government and an independent national commission have been trying to bring back those Taliban supporters who are not part of al-Qaida and were "forced or found in a position to leave Afghanistan or to pick up guns."

"It is extremely important that this process will go on," he told reporters after a high-level meeting of 24 of the country's supporters and neighbors, which he co-chaired with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Ban said participants in …