Creation of the High Peace Council was "a significant step towards peace talks", Mr Karzai's spokesman claimed. Negotiations with high-ranking members of the Taliban-led insurgency are seen as critical to any hopes of ending the nine-year-long rebellion. London welcomed the announcement, but foreign diplomats have privately warned meaningful talks could be years away. Efforts so far have been limited to tentative back channel communication which officals in Kabul say have made little progress. Public offers of negotiation from Mr Karzai have been flatly rejected by the rebels. Palace officials met on Saturday to draw up the council's membership and said it would probably include former anti-Soviet fighters, "influential figures and women". The council is widely predicted to be led by Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president and Mujahideen leader who organised Mr Karzai's peace jirga, or summit, in June. Former members of the Taliban regime and its Hizb-i-Islami insurgent allies are also expected to be included when the full membership is announced next week. The peace council was endorsed at the jirga of politicians, religious leaders and tribal figures from across Afghanistan. Mr Karzai has said he will negotiate with any insurgents who accept the Afghan constitution and sever links with al Qaeda. One senior diplomat told The Sunday Telegraph that: "Progress is going to be very slow. It's not going to happen in one day or six months." Gen David Petraeus, senior US and Nato general, said last week that Mr Karzai's efforts to reconcile with top Taliban leaders were "beyond the surface, but they are certainly in the early stages." While visiting Kabul last week, Nick Clegg, deputy Prime Minister, said British military efforts, which have seen 332 troops die, would not bear fruit without talks. He said all British soldiers could do was "create the space in which a political process can take root," adding: "I think everyone is aware that is the big bit of the jigsaw that is really missing as the military momentum appears to be strengthening." The Foreign Office said it welcomed the announcement. "We have always said that a political process is needed to bring the conflict in Afghanistan to an end," a spokesman said. (The Telegraph)