Few Taliban leaders switch sides,when they do,fear abounds

He needs them. As one of the few Taliban commanders to switch sides,he is a target. In a rare interview,the 28-year-old,is somber about the step he has taken,although he is one of the success stories of the governments biggest and best-financed peace programme,which aims to bring Taliban fighters over to the government side.

When I decided to switch sides,I was fed up with fighting, he said. Toor Jans switch may represent a hopeful sign for the governments plan to reintegrate the Taliban into Afghan society but it is also a rarity. Of the 1,700 fighters who have enrolled in the 10-month-old programme,only a handful are midlevel commanders,and two-thirds are from the north,where the insurgency is much weaker than in the south,said Maj Gen Phil Jones,the director of a NATO unit that is monitoring the programme.

The total is only a fraction of the 20,000 to 40,000 Taliban insurgents,and many of the fighters who have taken advantage of the programme may not even be Taliban,just men with weapons.

The Talibans leaders,most of whom are in Pakistan,have yet to embrace reconciliation. But Western governments are committed to the plan to persuade fighters to switch sides. It is well financed,with $140 million of the $150 million pledged from Western governments,according to a Western military official.

The money provides a small,short-term stipend to fighters who change sides,and then rewards their communities with development and job programmes rather than handing out money or jobs to fighters.

General Jones said the programme has grown more slowly in the south and east because many fighters fear that if they lay down their arms,the Taliban will take revenge. A Western diplomat familiar with preliminary negotiations with the Taliban said,Well only see big numbers when there is a little more progress on the political track. For that to happen,he said,its important how Pakistan responds.