LOC22:48
19:48 GMT
WASHINGTON, Feb 22 (KUNA) -- An international effort to reintegrate
Afghani Taliban fighters into mainstream society is working, according to a
top British military official, with 3,100 former insurgents participating so
far.
At a Pentagon briefing, Major General David Hook, the British Royal Marine
officer in charge of the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP),
told reporters Wednesday that since its inception in 2010 the program has
proven effective.
The program, lead by the International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF),
participants undergo a vetting process to make sure they are "bonafide
insurgents," he said.
They then go through a three-month demobilization program, during which
they are paid USD 120 a month, the amount an Afghan man would need to feed a
family of six.
As part of the program reintegrates must renounce violence, cut links to
terrorist organizations, accept the constitution and respect the rights of
minority groups.
Previous programs sought to pay insurgents to stop fighting, and they
failed, according to Hook.
Furthermore, within APRP, reintegrates are not immune from prosecution.
The decision to prosecute is made on a case-by-case basis by the Afghan
government.
The program is for verified insurgents only who have taken up arms against
the government of people of Afghanistan, not for common criminals.
Hook described reintegration as an "essential element in the comprehensive
counterinsurgency campaign" and is being implemented in 28 of Afghanistan's
provinces. (end)
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