Ex-prince wants Taliban brought into Afghan government

Afghanistan should set-up a transitional government that includes members of the Taliban once President Hamid Karzai's term ends late next year if it is to escape unending crisis, a grandson of the late former king said on Wednesday.

Once a prince, Mostafa Zaher now heads a department overseeing conservation issues in Karzai's government, and while the family royal family lacks a political powerbase it is often looked on as a symbol of national unity.

Like many Afghans, Zaher despairs that there is no end in sight to the Taliban insurgency, and conflict that has gripped the country since the late 1970s.

"We are in the middle of a crisis at this very second, and the situation is getting worse," the balding former prince told journalists, adding that decisiveness and vision were needed.

Zaher, 44, has spent three decades living in exile in the West, and has degrees in political science and economics from Canada. Raw Story

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