Afghanistan peace talks hang on despite US Marines urinating on dead Taliban video

KABUL // Afghanistan, Washington and the Taliban yesterday condemned a video purporting to show US Marines urinating on corpses of insurgents, but the Islamists said it was unlikely to derail peace talks.

The US defence secretary, Leon Panetta, called the footage, which was posted online, "utterly deplorable" and vowed that "those found to have engaged in such conduct will be held accountable to the fullest extent".

The Pentaton said yesterday it had no information so far that casts doubt on the authenticity of the video.

"We don't have any indication that it's not authentic,"the Pentagon spokesman, Captain John Kirby, said.

The US military said it was investigating the video of what appears to be four servicemen dressed in US military uniform urinating on three bloodied bodies.

The Taliban, who have made recent moves to talk about an end to 10 years of war, described the apparent abuse as "an inhumane and savage act by the American soldiers in Afghanistan".

But the Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, added that he did not think it would destroy tentative peace negotiations with the US "which at this stage are mainly about prisoner exchange".

Earlier in the day, the insurgents issued another statement supporting talks, while warning that this did not mean surrender.

The Pentagon said that it has not yet verified the video footage, which has been broadcast by the leading Afghan television station, Tolo News.

In it, one of the men, apparently aware that they are being filmed, says: "Have a great day, buddy", referring to one of the dead.

"It turned my stomach," Mr Kirby said of the video, which was posted on the Live Leak website.

The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, said in a statement that "the government of Afghanistan is deeply disturbed" by what it called "desecrating dead bodies of three Afghans".

"This act by American soldiers is simply inhuman and condemnable in the strongest possible terms," said the statement.

"We expressly ask the US government to urgently investigate the video and apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime."

Nato forces in Afghanistan also condemned the video as appearing to show "US military personnel committing an inappropriate act with enemy corpses.

"This disrespectful act is inexplicable and not in keeping with the high moral standards we expect of coalition forces."

The International Security Assistance Force "strongly condemns the actions depicted in the video, which appear to have been conducted by a small group of US individuals who apparently are no longer serving in Afghanistan."

On the subject of the peace talks, the Taliban, who have announced their readiness to open a political office in Qatar, said that they had increased their "political efforts to come to mutual understanding with the world".

"But this understanding does not mean a surrender from jihad and neither is it connected to an acceptance of the constitution of the stooge Kabul administration," the Islamists said in a statement.

The statement could be seen as reassurance to rank-and-file Taliban members that the leadership is not abandoning jihad, or holy war, as it enters negotiations.

It came as the US announced that it would send a senior official to meet Mr Karzai next week to see whether he agrees to a resumption of preliminary talks with the Taliban.

A US official said the talks could open within weeks if Mr Karzai agrees.

A key Washington demand for any progress is that the Taliban accept the Afghan constitution, which provides protection for the rights of women and minorities, which were stifled during the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001.

Another crucial element would be a renunciation of violence by the Taliban and a break with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the US said.