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Afghan President Hamid Karzai: "What has happened to cause the Afghan people in the south to allow the Taliban to return to their villages? Something must have gone wrong. But who allowed things to go wrong?"

In an exclusive SPIEGEL interview, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, 52, discusses prospects for reconciliation with the Taliban, his difficult relationship with Washington and the Germans' role in the country following the deadly September bombing near Kunduz that caused numerous civilian deaths.

SPIEGEL: At the Afghanistan conference in London, you -- as well as other participants -- spoke of reconciliation with the Taliban. Could you envision receiving Mullah Omar on the red carpet at the presidential palace in Kabul?

Karzai: Mullah Omar is...