U.S. in peace talks with Taliban, Karzai says

Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed Saturday for the first time that the Afghan and U.S. governments have begun peace discussions with Taliban insurgents, saying that the talks “have started already” and are “going well,” according to news accounts. He said foreign military forces, “especially the United States,” are “going ahead with these negotiations.”

At the same time, however, Karzai blasted the international governments and forces that have been assisting and defending his government over the past decade.

“The nations of the world which are here in our country are here for their own national interests,” he said, according to the official transcript of his speech to a youth conference at his presidential palace. “They are using our country.”

Karzai’s comments came as three suicide attackers in Afghan army uniforms attacked a nearby police facility in a bustling market district, igniting a three-hour gun battle that killed all three assailants, two policemen and four civilians. A Taliban spokesman quickly asserted the group’s responsibility.

News accounts of the president’s remarks varied, and the official palace version did not include any mention of peace talks. One news agency quoted him as saying talks had gone on “in the course of this year” and that various Taliban emissaries had met with members of the peace council he set up last year to negotiate.

A government spokesman, Hakim Ashur, quoted Karzai as telling the group: “We would like our disgruntled Taliban brothers to come and accept the Afghan constitution, the gains of the past 10 years, democracy and the right of free press and women. Americans support this process and are also involved in the peace process.”

No details were cited on the American role, and U.S. Embassy officials declined to comment. The Washington Post reported last month that administration officials had held several preliminary meetings this spring, in Germany and Qatar, with senior Taliban officials they believed to be close to Afghan Taliban leader Mohammad Omar. Karzai’s comments were the first public confirmation by the Afghan government of what he called “substantial” meetings.

In his comments critical of the international presence in Afghanistan, the president complained that NATO weapons pollute the environment and that foreign aid to Afghanistan amounts to far less than what the foreign forces take away. He also criticized Western forces for killing innocent people in Libya.

“It is just for their national interest that they put our lives under their feet and dishonor the people,” he said.

Karzai has voiced increasing antagonism toward U.S. and NATO forces here, blaming them repeatedly for civilian casualties and suggesting that they are becoming an occupying force. Yet Afghan officials have also expressed concern about Afghan security and stability once U.S. forces begin a withdrawal planned for between now and 2014.

Saturday’s suicide attack on a police station in a crowded area of the capital served as another reminder of the Taliban’s apparent determination to continue spreading terror, even as its leaders entertain initial discussions of peace.

Police officials and witnesses said that just after noon, they saw three young men running through a market toward the police facility. One was shot dead at the entrance gate, and the other two forced their way inside and opened fire. One was shot and killed and the second later blew himself up.

It was the first terrorist assault in downtown Kabul since April 18, when a suicide bomber in army dress penetrated the Ministry of Defense headquarters, killing two soldiers before being shot dead. But Taliban fighters have kept up a drumbeat of attacks across the country, as well as targeting a number of officials in northern Afghanistan for assassination.

“I saw three boys run toward the police station wearing army uniforms. One ran past and the others shouted, ‘Come back, this is the place,’ ” said Omid Ziai, 18, a shopkeeper selling sheets and towels on the next block. “One of them was shot right away, but the others went inside, and there was furious fire for a long time.”

Deputy city police chief Daoud Amin said the attackers who entered the police facility killed two officers and four civilians who were visiting the office. None of the civilians was immediately identified, but another police official said at least one may have been a foreigner.

Other witnesses, including a guard at a nearby bank, described hearing or seeing a rocket land in the immediate area just before the attack, causing a huge explosion and setting numerous shops on fire. The area, one of the busiest shopping centers in the capital, was quickly deserted, with abandoned merchandise scattered across the sidewalks.

The body of one attacker lay outside the police building for several hours amid the noise of the gun battle and the chaos of police and emergency vehicles. A second was brought out later, and both were put in ambulances. Both appeared to be men in their late teens or early 20s and were wearing camouflage uniforms over Muslim robes. 

State officials tour St. John's

While construction crews moved throughout the steel structure, nailing and drilling, St. John's Inc. Chief Operating Officer David Karlin guided a tour of public officials through the half-finished facility Wednesday afternoon.

"What we're constructing isn't an efficient model," he said. "It's a better care model."

Karlin was joined by Shawn Sullivan, secretary of Kansas Department on Aging; Susan Fout, commissioner of community programs; Joe Ewart, commissioner of licensure, certification and evaluation; and Sen. Allen Schmidt, D-Hays.

Rooms in the new nursing home will be more than double the size of the existing rooms at St. John's Hays nursing home.

With more than 80,000 square feet of new construction, almost entirely devoted to resident living space, each private room will be more than 800 square feet per person. The new facility, with 72 private and 12 semi-private rooms arranged in neighborhoods, will connect to St. John's assisted living, which will be renovated inside and out. Some services, such as kitchen services, will be consolidated.

Each neighborhood will have living spaces with fireplaces, kitchenettes, screened-in porches and a saloon or ice cream shop.

"What we're doing is creating a home," he said. "Building a place they will be very comfortable in ... doing everything possible to eliminate the feel of an institution and give them back their home."

Construction for the facility, which is projected to be complete in March, is estimated between $12.5 million and $13 million.

Owned by Wichita-based Via Christi Senior Services, both the St. John's Hays and Victoria campuses will be consolidated into the new building. Karlin said St. John's officials are "in conversations with potential buyers for the Victoria property."

Although the new facility will employ 12 fewer full-time employees, Karlin said, "There will be more hours of employees devoted to residents each day.

"We will need more nursing employees in the new model than we currently employ in all three facilities."

After touring the St. John's construction site, Kansas Department on Aging Secretary Shawn Sullivan took a few moments to discuss the reshaping of Kansas' Medicaid program he and the state's other cabinet secretaries have been tasked with by Gov. Sam Brownback.

Sullivan, who served as a nursing home administrator in Atwood and Lyons, said he is aware of the challenges facing rural Kansas regarding health care options for elderly.

"We're looking at every available alternative to figure out how we can save money or cut costs," he said. "From my particular population of seniors, we're looking to do that by reducing the percentage of seniors we have in nursing homes."

Another cost-reducing option being considered is reducing hospitalizations and emergency room visits and "doing a better job of coordinating care," he said.

Coordination of care could involve a managed care system where a care coordinator would assist seniors with chronic illness issues and help them to remain in their own homes.

One avenue that possibly could be used to deliver medical case management, according to Sullivan, would be the 11 Area Agencies on Aging throughout the state.