LONDON, Dec 6: The head of the newly-appointed Afghan interim administration, Hamid Karzai, has said former Taliban figures could play a role in a future government if the Afghan people wanted them but that “foreign terrorists” must be expelled.

In an interview with the BBC, Mr Karzai said: “Foreign terrorists that have made Afghanistan their base and have brought unbelievable sufferings to our people and my country must be brought to justice.”

He said his country needed economic opportunities and democratic elections in order to move forward.

Mr Karzai told the BBC that the Afghan people must make decisions about the type of the government the country would have and who it would include.

He also said that if local forces could not provide “security at this critical time of transition, then the presence of a UN force would be a good thing”.

He was talking by satellite phone from north of the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, where his forces are battling the Taliban militia.