MOSCOW. Aug 3 (Interfax) - The vast majority of members of the Taliban movement (banned in Russia) opt for a peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, Russian Special Presidential Representative for Afghanistan, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Second European Department Zamir Kabulov said.
"According to our estimates, about three-thirds of the movement members, including leaders, opt for a political settlement of the Afghan crisis," Kabulov said at the roundtable entitled "Afghanistan after the U.S. Forces' Pullout: Who Can Help Build a Strong State," organized by the Gorchakov Foundation.
A reason for such sentiment is the tiredness from the long war, as well as "the mere common sense: no one, including them, will gain anything from continuing the endless war," he said.
"About a third of movement fighters, including some field commanders, maintain radical views. There is an explanation for that, as well. First of all, these are mostly young people who grew up either in refugee camps or in remote places, in the wilderness, and who lack the quivering sense of homeland and are indoctrinated with the ideas of global jihad," Kabulov said.