(For more on Afghanistan, click [ID:nAFPAK])
By Hamid Shalizi
KABUL, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Afghanistan last week announced the members of its High Peace Council, which aims to lay the basis for peace negotiations with insurgent groups, in a bid to end a war now its ninth, and bloodiest year.
There is a growing sense both at home and in some quarters among Afghanistan's allies that despite the presence of nearly 150,000 foreign forces, talks may be the only route to peace.
Karzai has already launched a peace and reintegration drive to persuade low-level Taliban fighters to give up their guns.
Here are some questions and answers about the council:
WILL IT WORK?
President Hamid Karzai, who has long pushed for talks to end the raging insurgency, won approval for the council at a "peace jirga", or tribal meeting this year.
But there are doubts about the ability of its members to convince insurgent leaders to join talks.
The Taliban, which is the largest insurgent group fighting foreign and Afghan forces in Afghanistan, have always maintained they will not enter into any dialogue with the Afghan government as long as foreign troops are in the country.
Critics of Karzai's plan say talks are unlikely to take place as long as the insurgents see themselves as winning the war and are simply waiting for an eventual withdrawal of international troops. They also point to previous efforts to reach out to the insurgents which either failed or produced only muted responses.
Karzai's proposal has also created splits within his own government -- earlier this year his then-intelligence chief resigned and said part of the reason was plans for "negotiating...with suicide bombers".
The council may have some success with more moderate groups such as Hezb-i-Islami, who sent a senior delegation to Kabul earlier this year to meet Karzai. While there was no breakthrough in those talks, the insurgent faction appeared to show some flexibility over a timeline for withdrawing foreign troops.
In any case, there are unlikely to be any quick results. Members must settle on a leader and working mechanisms, so substantive work will not start soon, officials say.
WHO IS ON BOARD?
The team includes Karzai loyalists from parliament and government, former Taliban members, tribal elders, and former warlords from Afghanistan's civil war period.
Missing are representatives from civil society, the business community, development and medical experts, right groups, the senior ranks of the opposition and women's activists.
WHO WOULD MEDIATE?
If any talks were to take place they would have to be mediated by people trusted by both sides. Saudi Arabia sponsored secret talks last year and has acted as an interlocutor between Afghan officials and Taliban commanders in the past.
Karzai has asked Saudi Arabia to play a "prominent" role in any peace process and the kingdom has said it would be willing if the Taliban denied sanctuary to Osama bin Laden.
Another option tried in the past would be to use former Taliban members. There are some former Taliban officials on the council, but several heavyweight figures who helped lead previous talks with the current government are missing.
WILL WOMEN PLAY A ROLE?
Only nine women are on the peace council, barely over 10 percent of its members, although Karzai had promised a much more substantial female representation.
Women's activists are among those most concerned about the cost of negotiating with the insurgents rather than fighting them, fearing the loss of hard-won rights, including education. (Additional reporting and writing by Jonathon Burch, editing by Emma Graham-Harrison)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
