From NATO:  Well the drive for reintegration, which I think is the term that’s used for the low to mid-level fighters, is very, very important. It’s one that we strongly support. And it’s one which does need a fund to back it up…

Governance of that fund will also be very important because it’s our very strong belief and General Petraeus and others have spoken to this, that a good 70 to 80 percent of the insurgency has been more or less rented by the Taliban. These are people who belong in their communities, defending their communities, not attacking their communities…

For the mid to high level commanders of the insurgency, where so-called reconciliation has a bigger role to play, we support President Karzai’s determination to hold a loya jirga that would bring together all those willing to live within Afghanistan’s constitution and break their links with al-Qaeda. Those are the red lines that are very important for any reconciliation package and I think they are widely understood.

Excerpts from response by British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, at NATO press conference,  to question about funding for reconciliation of the Taliban. (photo: NATO)