The Sun By JEROME STARKEY in Kabul and TOM NEWTON DUNN Defence Editor Published: Monday, February 4, 2008 BRITAIN planned a secret training camp in Afghanistan for 2,000 Taliban turncoats, it has emerged. Diplomats wanted the defecting militiamen to form a paramilitary force to fight the troubled countrys religious fanatics. But the project was scuppered when Afghan secret police found details on a computer. Furious president Hamid Karzai was told and he expelled the two senior officials behind the move. An intelligence source in Kabul said the military camp was part of controversial British moves to reform ex-Taliban fighters as community defence volunteers. The source added: It would have provided training for 1,800 ordinary fighters and 200 low-level commanders. The plan aimed to take advantage of a split within the Taliban in which a senior commander, Mansoor Dadullah, was sacked for talking to British spies. One official claimed the camp due to be built outside the town of Musa Qala, in opium-swamped northern Helmand Province was intended for Dadullah and his men. US and British troops ousted the Taliban from Musa Qala during a two-week operation in December. The camp would also have taught farming techniques to try to wean people off growing opium. The existence of the plans has been confirmed by UK and UN diplomats, as well as senior Afghan officials. They agreed the project was entirely British-led, but all refused to talk on the record. The government in Kabul claimed the two expelled diplomats Michael Semple and Mervyn Patterson were kicked out over Christmas for talking to the Taliban without permission. But the Foreign Office insisted Karzais office knew what was going on. The revelations will embarrass PM Gordon Brown, who has promised that NO negotiations would take place with the Taliban. He told MPs in December: We are isolating and eliminating the leadership of the Taliban. We are not negotiating with them. However, the PM has also pledged support for community defence initiatives, where local volunteers are recruited to defend homes and families. t.newtondunn@the-sun.co.uk
Forum