PM rules out talks with Taliban

In his long-awaited Commons statement on the Government's Afghan policy, the Prime Minister announced additional development aid, as well as more armoured vehicles and helicopters for British forces.

He also backed efforts by Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, to win over former insurgents who were prepared to give up violence and accept the country's constitution.

However, Mr Brown - who visited Afghanistan on Monday - made it clear that the process did not extend to the senior Taliban leadership responsible for orchestrating the violence against the international forces in the country.

"We are winning the battle against the insurgency - isolating and eliminating the leadership of the Taliban, not negotiating with them," he said.

Senior Government sources acknowledged that the latest plan, which follows a five-month internal policy review, represented a "shift in emphasis" rather than fundamental change in direction.

While the top Taliban leadership is thought to comprise around a dozen senior figures, the Afghan government has been concentrating its efforts on persuading middle-level commanders to break away from the insurgency with their followers.

So far, 5,000 fighters are said to have laid down their arms.

"This is not a question of negotiating with the Taliban. It is a question of splitting the Taliban," one Government source said.

"This is an Afghan-led effort that has been going on for some time, directly co-ordinated by president Karzai. We are looking to support that effort, not set up some British initiative."