Strong Words From Hillary Clinton on Trafficking; Karzai Tells US Defense Secretary Trust Gone; FBI, Homeland Security Warn of Possible Violence in US
ANDERSON: A very warm welcome to our viewers across Europe and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson for you at just after half past nine out of London. These are the latest world news headlines here on CNN. More fallout from Sunday's massacre of civilians in Southern Afghanistan. As US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta tries to limit the damage, the Afghan Taliban is scrapping peace talks with Washington. Now, this setback comes as Afghanistan's president, Hamid Karzai, declared that he wants American troops out of his country's villages. Syria marked the first anniversary of the uprising with pro-regime rallies and more violence. This flag-waving event in Damascus was dubbed a Global March for Syria. Forty-six more deaths are reported Thursday, with activists saying the yearlong death toll is approaching 10,000. Seventy-five people can now face criminal charges in Egypt over last month's deadly football match. Rioting left 70 people dead. Nine policemen and three officials from the Al-Masry club are being referred for prosecution. And US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says human trafficking is "an affront to our most fundamental values." At the White House earlier today, she chaired a meeting of the task force dedicated to combating modern-day slavery.</s>HILLARY CLINTON, US SECRETARY OF STATE: This is a priority in the Obama administration, starting with the president, as Valerie said. And the first time we convened the task force under this administration, we laid out a set of commitments. A call to action. And in answering that call, we've tried to elevate the fight against trafficking to the highest levels of policy-making.</s>ANDERSON: Those are your headlines this hour. Now, Afghanistan's leader has a message for Leon Panetta. Hamid Karzai says Afghans have lost trust in international forces after an American soldier was accused of murdering 16 villagers. Sara Sidner is live for you tonight from Afghanistan's capital, Kabul. Sara, a message from the Taliban on the same day. Peace talks are off. How does all this play into what's going on on the ground?</s>SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly makes things uncomfortable for the relationship between the United States in particular and Afghanistan. And Mr. Panetta sat down and talked with Mr. Karzai, Mr. Karzai asking that some of the timetable be moved up, and also saying that he wanted all international troops out of villages and remote areas and to move back to main bases. We heard, then, from US officials who said, "No, we think he doesn't mean that immediately. We think that he means that will happen over time." But I spoke with his spokesman, and he said, "No, I meant now. From now forward, not waiting until the day that had been agreed upon." He also asked that the international forces get this transition done by 2013 instead of 2014. So, you're hearing the frustration, and this is all, obviously, after a US soldier was arrested in connection with the slaughter of 16 civilians as -- in the dead of night as they slept in their homes, including nine women and three children, Becky.</s>ANDERSON: Sara Sidner's in Kabul for you this evening. Well, my next guest admits the US-Afghan relationship is in trouble and says Sunday's tragedy could not have happened at a more sensitive time. Middle East expert Vali Nasr says at a scheduled NATO meeting in May, all stakeholders had hoped to show progress in agreeing an exit strategy. Well, when he joined me earlier, I asked him what sort of sweeteners might NATO and the US now offer Karzai and, perhaps more urgently, the Taliban.</s>VALI NASR, US STATE DEPARTMENT FOREIGN AFFAIRS POLICY ADVISORY BOARD: We can actually deliver on what they've been asking, which is to transfer four to five of their people from Guantanamo to the custody of the government of Qatar. The United States has so far resisted this for a variety of reasons. Now, it can become much more proactive on that. It's not a given that the Taliban would be able to return, but it's something that we can try. And with Karzai, we'll have to deliver on some of the things he's been asking. For instance, maybe we need to impose a moratorium on rotten -- night raids in the villages. We might have to actually agree to some of the conditionalities that he has put on, at least to provide him with enough political room to be able to come back onboard, and then we can revisit these issues with him at a later point in time.</s>ANDERSON: That makes sense. This -- I wonder whether this is also on option. The former foreign secretary to the UK, David Miliband here in the studio a couple of days ago. This is what he said he thought needed to happen next.</s>DAVID MILIBAND, FORMER FOREIGN SECRETARY TO THE UK: I believe we need a UN mediator appointed now, talking to all sides, with no conditions for those talks. And there's a simple formula for stability: all the tribes in, al Qaeda out, and the neighbors on side.</s>NASR: Well, the United States has so far resisted the idea of a UN mediator because the very first thing a UN mediator will ask is for a cease-fire in place. And the American military commanders don't want their hands to be forced by an outside party, so the US wants to control these talks and wants to have some kind of a say in how they will proceed. But the bigger problem is that even for a UN mediator to be able to convene a conference, you need the Taliban and President Karzai to feel sufficiently -- to have sufficient political capital and room to maneuver to come to the talks. Karzai now feels that he can only go to the talks if he creates distance between himself and the United States, and the Taliban now think going to the talks has so much political cost for them at home with their own commanders, rank and file, et cetera, that it's better for them to not go to the talks at all.</s>ANDERSON: A decade on, the Afghan strategy is in tatters. There is no doubt about that. Vali, does it get worse before it gets better, or does it get worse after it gets worse, as it were?</s>NASR: It could get worse and worse. Right now, actually, we don't have so much as an Afghan strategy as we have an Afghan exit strategy. And the Afghan exit strategy was predicated on certain stability in the three- way relationship between the United States, Taliban, and Karzai. So, we thought we got the Taliban closer to talks, even as we were fighting with them, and we got them closer to Karzai, and we were maintaining a certain degree of stability in our relationship with Karzai. Now, two of these pillars have collapsed. Our relationship with Karzai is not good and it's getting worse, and Karzai's beginning to hedge that his survival depends on distance from the United States, not more cooperation. And the Taliban have decided that the ideal peace talks with the United States is now going to be very damaging to their street credibility and popularity. In fact, they may be able to milk what's happened to gain more support. So, some of our assumptions are no longer there, and before we rush to the May meeting in Chicago, we ought to sort of step back and see what is the reality on the ground in Afghanistan and devise an exit strategy that reflects that.</s>ANDERSON: Vali Nasr speaking to me earlier. And tonight, the FBI and Homeland Security in the US warning of possible violence in America in retaliation for the Afghan massacre. The warning comes in a document obtained by CNN. Go to the website, cnn.com, you'll find the facts there. A top Iranian official calls for cooperation from the West in return for transparency over its nuclear program. CNN's exclusive interview with one of Iran's most influential officials, next here on CNN.