Uruzgan's governer Asudallah Hamdam is enjoying a break from his closely guarded compound in Tarin Kowt. He's here in The Netherlands to attend a family wedding, and took time out from the festivities to tell our reporter Bette Dam about his efforts to deal with the resurgent Taliban in his region.
"This is a huge difference between Holland and Afghanistan, especially Tarin Kowt. I can not tell you how big the difference is. I hope one day we can bring the security on this level, that's enough".
Dialogue
The security - or lack thereof - in his province is Mr Hamdam's prime worry. Just recently there was the deadly rocket attack on Camp Holland, the home base for the Dutch ISAF troops, and landmines still explode regularly in and around Tarin Kowt. When confronted with President Obama's call for a dialogue with the Taliban, Mr Hamdam reacts cautiously - he is constantly talking to them he says, but trying to separate the Taliban from the rest of the Afghan people is not working.
"The people of Afghanistan are related to each other. And the tribe issue is also involved in this. Afghanistan is a country that belongs to every afghan and not one side."
The media and the Dutch military put the blame for the current violence squarely on the Taliban's shoulders - much to Mr Hamdam's annoyance. He stresses that there are other reasons as well, particularly the delicate issue of tribal feuds.
Intermediaries
Mr Hamdam is trying to speak to Taliban supporters from all walks of life. He regularly sends intermediaries to Pakistan, to speak to top Taliban leaders who are hiding in those regions.
"Three months ago we had a lot of people from the Taliban, relatives of those, fathers of some of them. It was very good we are going do that again and again to bring those [who are] not involved in resisting the international community and against the Afghan government. They are our people. They are Afghans. We need them and they need us".
After the interview, Mr Hamdam apologizes to our reporter Bette Dam: perhaps he should invite her to the wedding in a village nearby, but that's impossible. ‘In Afghanistan, you can't bring a woman to a party when you're not married to her. It would raise too many questions, I'm afraid'....
Tags: Afghanistan, Asudallah Hamdam, Taliban, Uruzgan