Senior members of the Taliban are being persuaded to defect from the struggle in Afghanistan by negotiators backed by Britain, a report claims.

The Guardian newspaper cites a senior British official saying that the strategy has received the support of the UK government and is currently being pursued through backdoor talks.

Its report claims that British generals have decided the Taliban will never be fully defeated militarily in Afghanistan, leading them to conclude that a political settlement must be pursued to restore peace to the troubled central Asian country.

"There is a remarkable amount of contacts between senior and serious [Afghan] government figures with people who are in the Taliban movement," the newspaper quotes the official as saying.

"It is conceivable you could have chunks of the Taliban breaking off and giving up violence. Some have already done so."

The strategy clashes with those who see the Taliban as a single, unified group which must be completely eradicated, however.

American forces in particular are believed to view the Taliban in this way but the British have reportedly become convinced that some elements of the forces are fighting for either tribal allegiance or money than ideology.

"Everyone on the ground thinks they've had a real effect this year and they want to keep the pressure up through the winter," a Nato official is quoted as saying.

"It's in the Taliban's interests to appear more conciliatory when they're under pressure."

A Ministry of Defence spokesperson said: "We have always said there is no military solution in Afghanistan - a fully comprehensive approach is needed.

"This approach will involve reconciliation with those Taliban prepared to integrate into the new Afghanistan, [Afghan] president [Hamid] Karzai has often spoken of the need for this."

He cited Governor Munib in Oruzgan province as an example of a former Taliban member brought into the government.
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