US General Stanley McChrystal said last week that there had been "enough fighting" in Afghanistan. And he said a political solution in the war-torn country was "inevitable". His remarks came as the top UN envoy in Kabul said it was time to talk to the militants. Afghan and Pakistani leaders are in Turkey to discuss tackling the Taliban-led insurgency in their countries.

Both Afghan President Hamid Karzai and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, attended an international conference on Afghanistan in London last week. Gen McChrystal has said the arrival of the extra 30,000 US troops pledged by President Obama and the additional 7,000 troops promised by other Nato countries should deliver significant progress in 2010.

And he said that a political solution to the conflict was inevitable. Afghan President Karzai told the BBC last week of his desire for reconciliation. He did not rule out a role for the Taliban in a future Afghan government.