Taliban leader rules out talks with Karzai

KABUL — The Taliban's reclusive leader has ruled out talks with President Hamid Karzai and called on Afghans to break off relations with his "stooge" administration.

In a statement, Mullah Omar also insisted foreign troops were losing the war in Afghanistan.

His message, issued ahead of the Muslim Eid holiday, came a week after Karzai reached out to the Taliban during his inauguration speech, saying it was important to include in the government former Taliban who were ready to renounce terrorism. The hardline militia has long refused to negotiate with the Karzai government or join what it considers a puppet administration.

"Ground realities in our beloved country indicate that the invaders are about to escape," Omar said in the message posted on a Web site used by the Taliban and e-mailed to journalists from an address often used to send out his statements.

Omar led the Taliban regime that was toppled by the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, and has not been seen since. Afghan officials claim he is in hiding in Pakistan.

As the Taliban insurgency gathers strength, President Barack Obama has been considering plans to send tens of thousands more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. U.S. military officials expect an infusion of approximately 32,000 to 35,000 troops to begin in February or March. It would be the largest expansion since the beginning of the war eight years ago.

NATO countries are also preparing to send more soldiers, with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown saying 10 NATO nations are ready to offer about 5,000 more troops. Britain, which has 9,000 troops in Afghanistan, the second-largest contingent after the United States, has not named the countries it claims will provide the extra troops.

As part of efforts to bolster Afghanistan's own security forces, the Interior Ministry announced Wednesday a salary hike for police to help boost recruitment and retention and curb rampant corruption in the force that suffers a higher death rate than the nation's army.

Bolstering Afghanistan's police force, which is underpaid and under-equipped, is seen as crucial to improving security and eventually allowing foreign troops to go home.

Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar said monthly salaries for police working in high-risk areas will increase from $180 to $240, while those of police in lower risk areas will increase from $120 to $210.

Chief spokesman for the NATO-led force in Afghanistan acknowledged the Taliban had gained momentum in their insurgency. "We need to neutralize locally some of those initiatives to slow them down," Canadian Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay said.