PARIS: France still supports reaching out to the Taliban in Afghanistan despite a surge in attacks ahead of the August 20 elections, Foreign Minister Bernard Koucher said in an interview Monday."Of course we must negotiate with the Taliban, at least with those who are ready to lay down their weapons and talk," Kouchner told local newspaper. Any attempt to enlist the Taliban in negotiations must be endorsed by the government of President Hamid Karzai, Kouchner said, adding that the worst scenario would be for the allies to be leading separate efforts. "We want to build peace with the Afghans, I would even say under the leadership of the Afghans," he stressed. Kouchner said that only Saudi Arabia had been able so far to play a role in brokering talks between the Taliban and Karzai, but that these had not yielded concrete results. LINK