| KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) An Afghan official assigned to make peace with Taliban-led militants said Monday that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and renegade former premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar could be accepted back into Afghan society if they give up the fight.
Sibghatullah Mujaddedi, head of a peace commission set up this year, said talks were open to every Afghan ready to lay down their arms and recognize President Hamid Karzai and the country's new democratic constitution.
Karzai has said dozens of militant leaders including Omar and Hekmatyar, both top targets for 18,000 U.S.-led troops battling insurgents in Afghanistan, were barred from an amnesty offer but Mujaddedi said the restriction no longer applied.
``Sometimes policies toward some people change, and this was the old policy toward Mullah Omar and Hekmatyar,'' Mujaddedi said at a news conference. ``Our commission is independent and we want to deal with all individuals.''
Mujaddedi, a white-bearded Islamic scholar and former Afghan president, said he had cleared his approach with the government. Officials in the president's office had no immediate comment.
A U.S. spokesman said the military was still studying his remarks, but suggested he had stepped out of line.
``Our position all along has been that those guilty of serious crimes must be responsible for their actions,'' Col. James Yonts said. ``We believe the government of Afghanistan understands and supports that.''
The U.S. military hopes the reconciliation drive will draw the sting of a 3-year-old insurgency, and allow them to withdraw some of their troops after parliamentary elections in September.
But American officials have said only ``non-criminal'' Taliban should be allowed to return without fear of prosecution and that Omar, Hekmatyar and others would be hunted down.
Afghan officials claim dozens of commanders aligned with the Taliban and Hekmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami faction have responded to the peace process, though it remains unclear if they had much influence on those still fighting.
Clashes in the last week alone have killed more than 80 people, but most of them were rebels.
Mujaddedi said the commission didn't know where Omar and Hekmatyar were to deliver its offer of talks, but insisted the fugitives were growing tired of ``fleeing from cave to cave.''
``From what we understand, these two individuals regret fighting and are not interested in fighting any more,'' Mujaddedi said. ``If they come and join the peace process, we will see what their conditions are. If they are acceptable for us and the government, we will accept them.''
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