with the saudi crown prince amid the international concern over saudi involvement in the murder of the journalist jamal khashoggi. turkey's president has promised to reveal details of the killing on tuesday and president trump has sent the director of the cia to istanbul. donald trump has threatened to boost his country's nuclear forces to compel russia to abide by an arms control treaty, which he has said he plans to quit. mr trump told reporters that the united states would build up its nuclear arsenal until russia came to its senses. the longest sea bridge in the world has opened with a ceremony, which the chinese president, xijinping, has attended. the $20 billion project, which combines bridges and an undersea tunnel, links hong kong and the macau peninsula to mainland china. now on bbc news, hardtalk. welcome to talk. and steven sackur.

a scandal had to make tools to get the results of last sunday's parliamentary election. in one sense the verdict is already in. the ballot again exposed widespread insecurity and the absence of government control in many parts of the country. my guest it president ashraf ghani's regionally appointed an strikingly young national security adviser, hamdullah mohib. as the us government decided to engage with the taliban regardless of the wishes of the afghan government. hamdullah mohib in kabul, welcome to

talk. thank you, steven. good to be here. we speak of course after the parliamentary elections. would you accept that the way those elections worked out so many afghans facing the impossibility of going to the polls because of insecurity and a lack of government control of key parts of your territory, they brutally exposed everything that is currently wrong afghanistan and its politics. there were multiple threat by the taliban and there is president of attacks on polling stations. the afghan people defied all of that and came out to vote. i

think that speaks for itself. on what the afghan people voted on democracy is and what it is that they want in their life. this was they want in their life. this was the first election that was com pletely the first election that was completely organised by the afghan government and security provided by the alien dss. i think they did a tremendously good job compared to what we had in the past. even from the number of attacks that were launched on election day in 2014, when we had foreign security assistance and the elections had a lot of support from the international community, were much larger in scale than we had this year. but look at reality. i do not mean to be little the bravery of those three or so million afghans who did go to the polls in the face of taliban threats. i do not little their bravery for one second. but

here is the reality full of your own electoral commission says that at least a quarter of polling stations across the country didn't open because of security concerns. we know that in whole swathes of territory including kandahar and gaffney, there was no voting because of security concerns. there may be some more voting next week, we are not quite sure. we know that your own transparent election trounced —— foundation in the country down the biometrics in them were not working in many other polling stations which we re in many other polling stations which were open, and if one takes all look that together plus dozens killed and more than 100 wounded around polling stations, one has to conclude that after 17 years of post— taliban governance, the government in afghanistan is still not delivering for its people. well, the government of afghanistan is delivering for its people, and as for where we didn't have elections for insecurities, of course we took risks, but we didn't

wa nt to course we took risks, but we didn't want to have those risks be beyond what we could control, in areas where we thought that casualties may be higher, there were no elections, but the kandahar issue is totally different. because of constituency issues that existed, the election commission decided that it would postpone those elections and hold them along with the presidential election, until we can find a solution to its constituency problem that it had. in kandahar, as a result of the unfortunate events, the brutal attack on the life of general graphic, the people of kandahar after the government to delay the elections in kandahar, which we did, and we hope to hold them next week. and the rest of the country, the polling stations that we re country, the polling stations that were safe and where we believe that

elections could happen, all of the polling stations were open. we had some technical issues on day one, but it was repeated and the opportunity was provided those stations and have elections on the second day. you are giving me plenty of detail, but i fear you are not addressing my main point. my main point is a simple one. how come 17 yea rs point is a simple one. how come 17 years after the caliban government was toppled, how come afghanistan has never been as insecure in those 17 years as it is today? that is a perception. that is what you think. what makes... it is not what i think, it is what a whole host of independent analysis can including from the us government, it is what they all think, and it is backed by figures, it is on the amount of territory that is now controlled or operated in with impunity by the caliban. —— caliban.

operated in with impunity by the caliban. -- caliban. when we talk of control, we have to have definition of what that means. if it means providing governments and service to the people, i don't think that is what that caliban provide. if it is fear, that exist. and we are at war. we are not denying that we are at war with the taliban. as for calling and making it sound like it is all falling apart, i think we are not looking at the detail in this matter. what has to look a lot closer than just the mere matter. what has to look a lot closer thanjust the mere headline. to see what the situation is. this isa to see what the situation is. this is a transformed country. to see what the situation is. this is a transformed countrylj to see what the situation is. this is a transformed country. i am painfully aware, it is anything to me, i would grind you it is easy to me, i would grind you it is easy to me to sit in london and tell you about the situation in your country and sound as though i am being extraordinarily arrogant. i do not mean to do that, but i do wish to

ask you a very direct question. you are the government's national security adviser. there are experts in security in afghanistan 80 drive hourin in security in afghanistan 80 drive hour in any direction from the capital kabul, it will in effect put you in taliban territory, to quote ashley jackson in foreign you in taliban territory, to quote ashleyjackson in foreign policy magazine, he says there may not be a caliban flat line, but everyone will know who is in charge. the taliban can know who is in charge. the taliban ca n e nfo rce know who is in charge. the taliban can enforce the rules, they collect taxes, they decide how much of the presents the state government can retain. it are true or not? it is not. there are areas, there are districts where taliban are collecting taxes and there are benefiting from legal mind them they are exploiting the businesses in the areas from the jungles, illegal light -- areas from the jungles, illegal light —— logging and the likes of criminal activities that they are

engaged in, but to say that they control those areas is a think a very big exaggeration. yes, they can drive you into people in those areas, they will be able to kidnap and be able to attack people, but do they govern those areas? i think there has to be a distinction between those. is it possible for us... between those. is it possible for us... every inch of the country... is it possible for us to mount every inch of the country? no. no country does that. but to be able to bring the population centres, the afghan population centres under control and provide them with security is an effort that we are, that we have been working on, and are working on, and even for the areas where there is insecurities so that we have the support of the people and new solutions to bring stability to those areas and security for the people. i understand you are working

on the challenges. the challenge are real. just explain to me if you can, because you are the president's national security adviser as the last few months. explain to me why, according to the pentagon, inspector general, the civilian death toll in afghanistan has reached a new record high. in recent months. the last year. why is it that the trajectory is in the wrong direction, and that the most important function of any government, that is protecting its civilians, your government cannot achieve? we are under attack. at the space for the insurgents grew smaller and they are not able to launch the kind of attacks they wa nted launch the kind of attacks they wanted to take territory in 2014 after the forces, that majority of the national security forces left,

they try to take territory, and that has been their strategic objectives, but they failed. they could take it, could not maintain, though the tactics reached to attack since it is in populated areas to bring international pressure and of course pressure on the afghan government. that said, we have been working on being population centres, you hear of the news of the extraordinary attacks that happen, but you don't hear of all the attacks that have been prevented, that we have been preventing, our security institutions have been improving their services to prevent them and prepare themselves for the changing tactics that the taliban have had. the civilian casualties are largely by that... sorry to interrupt, it is difficult with this delay on the line, but the more you tell me about tale of the taliban threat, the more i get completely confused about what your government is doing in

response. example, why is it that you are failing to keep up the force levels that you promised to actually deliver security to the afghan people? as i understand it, according to the pentagon, your force numbers both in the police and the armed forces, are now at least 10% below their expected strength than the numbers appear to be dwindling and not only the numbers dwindling, the morale is most definitely dwindling as well. when we look at just definitely dwindling as well. when we look atjust numbers, i think without the context, it obviously seems very bad, but we have been working on reforms in the institutions, some of those dwindling numbers, when it seems like, were actually inflated in the past. they would golf —— ghost soldiers that have been reduced in numbers because we have put in systems in place to detect that, and

numbers that didn't exist and were reflected. our security forces continue to fight with the valour and bravery and our defending their soil. you remember that our security forces are all voluntary. they subscribe, they come in to fight for their country, and in a few weeks that i have been a national security adviser, i have read report and heard from officials, the stories of the attacks and how bravely our security forces defended them. just one example, there was a check post in faria province that was under attack. all of the personnel that we re attack. all of the personnel that were inside fort to their last breath, not one of them surrendered, but one of them escaped and they have the opportunity to do both of those. that is interesting. you made a very interesting point about the

bravery of some of your security force personnel. let me tell you what one of them said to reuters news agency after that terrible bloodshed and loss of life in gazeley when taliban forces assaulted the city. more than 100 mostly police, afghan police were killed in that assault. one of the policeman who survived afterwards said, we fight for our country but we do not get the benefits and respect that are active and even to afg ha n respect that are active and even to afghan solders. with upwards only casualties, so many policemen were killed, but the government paid no attention to us. he said we haven't even been paid yet. what is a play about your government? —— what does that say about your government? as a national security adviser that is exactly what is on my mind to change. i do realise that we have a lot of challenges. ghazni was one of the reasons i accepted and took this job. it hurt me personally as an

afg ha n to job. it hurt me personally as an afghan to know that we failed security forces from a policy standpoint. and i am dedicated, me and the national security council will be working to resolve all of those issues. i issued a statement to our people, our security forces, that what i will be doing is to reflect their voices in our policies. it is true, we haven't been able to deliver the kind of services that our soldiers on the frontline deserve. they have not failed us. but i want to make sure that we also do not fail them when it comes to policies and strategies that protect their lives and their families. you know what i am mindful of, something that hamid karzai, former president said, as he was leaving office, something that deeply upset many people in the west, in nato particularly family members of those who lost their lives, because he said this, he said the nato exercise, all of its operations in afghanistan have been ones that have caused afghanistan

lot of suffering and loss of life and no gains because our country is not secure. he said that of nato's operations and of course the operations and of course the operations cost more than 2000 american lives, 440 british lives, one could almost say the same thing today to afghan veterans, the families of those who lost their lives in uniform serving the afghan government. all of this loss of life, either from nato government. all of this loss of life, eitherfrom nato forces government. all of this loss of life, either from nato forces or from your own afghan forces, and for what? because this is a war you can't win. that is, again, something that you have the luxury to say. as afg ha ns, we that you have the luxury to say. as afghans, we don't. this is our country. if it is not winnable, we have no other option. we are in this country and we have to live our lives and protect ourselves. while i do not want to comment on colleagues from previous governments, they have

their own opinion. what i can say to you is this is a changed country as a result of your investment and those of your viewers. and one of the reasons i came on the show is to tell you and your viewers that this is not the afghanistan that you only see through tv. there is so much more to that context. i understand that there is only so much news space for afghanistan and is usually covered by the spectacular events which are unfortunate but this is a different country, whether you look at it physically or socially. 75% of this country grew up in the war. our aspirations are to end this conflict and bring peace to afghanistan. we are extremely proud of our country and what we have, but we also realise that the challenges that we face are also ours. we are thankful that we get support from our allies

to help us along that weight. and know that your investment in this country has not gone to waste. yes, we have gone to war. it is not a war that we have brought upon ourselves. it isa that we have brought upon ourselves. it is a war that we must end. and it takes... it takes more than just state m e nts takes... it takes more than just statements to be able to end it. there are... we are taking measures every day. and thanks to resolute support, have been helping in the equipment and training of our security forces to provide the kind of security that the afghan people deserve. we don't have so much time, mrmohib, so let deserve. we don't have so much time, mr mohib, so let me ask you some quick questions pivoting to what you have alluded to, the support of allies in particular the united states and of course you, a former ambassador to the united states on the half of afghanistan. let me ask you this, donald trump has said, of course, that he will keep troops in afghanistan, advising and training,

14,000 of them, but he clearly wants to end this conflict and america's commitment to it as quickly as possible. one thing mooted in america is privatising the us military commitment in afghanistan. i spoke recently with erik prince, formerly the head of black water, who wants a piece of that action. how would you feel if the americans offered you instead of the us military are privatised contract at force ? military are privatised contract at force? -- a privatised contract at force ? force? -- a privatised contract at force? we have a decision by the national security council and we issued a statement. we will not allow businesses to make... to turn our war allow businesses to make... to turn ourwar into allow businesses to make... to turn our war into profit. it is an honourable course. we are proud of our partnership with our allies. we are fighting terrorism and counterinsurgency in this country and that's not for profit. a second and that's not for profit. a second and more important point about the diplomacy right now. it turns out

that, in october, i believe october 12, donald trump's afghan envoy had talks with senior taliban officials. yes or no, did you know that those talks were taking place at the time? were you told beforehand? we knew he had talks. stephen, i want to clarify. there is a lot of confusion about this. people confuse talks with negotiations. the afghan government have the initiative on the peace and reconciliation process. we held two major conferences here in kabul called the kabul process to bring regional countries on board on what we are doing on peace and security and we also have the initiative on the ceasefire... i am going to stop you, iam going ceasefire... i am going to stop you, i am going to stop you mr mohib because you haven't given me a straight answer, you haven't given

mea straight answer, you haven't given me a straight answer to an important question because it is a question on who is driving efforts to engage the taliban right now. the new york times reported sources saying" khalilzad had these meetings with the officials from the taliban. " he flew to the gulf state of qatar mac, quietly met them at ashraf ghani, your president, your boss, and his government heard of that meeting only afterwards through news reports. is that true or not? you are reading me an article... you are asking me a question that you just wa nt asking me a question that you just want confirmation for, or what is going on? it is a lot more details and what is the news report. just because a few words were not said in a meeting doesn't mean that there was intention behind hiding that. it was intention behind hiding that. it was a quick meeting and ambassador khalilzad was obviously very exhausted from his trip. so you

didn't know. to be clear then, you cleared it up for us, you didn't know that khalilzad, the special envoy, was talking to the taliban and itjust envoy, was talking to the taliban and it just writes envoy, was talking to the taliban and itjust writes me that the signals we are getting right now is that the americans —— just strikes me that the signals we are getting right now is that the americans have decided that far from the decisions from the past when the afghan government always says we must own any political process with the taliban, now the americans seem to be saying no, we are going to engage with the taliban ourselves. no, you cannot have one incident dictate an entire policy. that's not what the americans are saying and that's not what the americans say. we are in co nsta nt what the americans say. we are in constant contact with our american partners, that is not their policy. and let me tell you one other thing. it is not that afghans must own and drive the peace process. afghans do own and strive the peace process. and that's the only way for its

success. it is not that we want the ownershipjust for the success. it is not that we want the ownership just for the sake of ownership. we think that without it there will be no peace in afghanistan. and it would be a shame that all your investment and our investment and sacrifices go to waste just by... through a process. we own that process and it is very clear. all right, final thought, we own that process and it is very clear. all right, finalthought, we have discussed and you have been frank about the degree to which the taliban has a real presence on the ground in many parts of afghanistan but what would it take, mr national security advisor, for you to formally recognise the taliban's right to a stake in the governance of your country, what would it take? well, the taliban can tend elections, they are more than welcome to participate and see that the afghan people want that process despite their threats, they have

participated in elections. if the taliban really feel that they have a place in afghan society, other than driving fear into them, then they must come and content and see whether the afghan people really vote for them or not. during the ceasefire, the short ceasefire that we had for three days, it was quite clear that once the taliban let their security... let their fighters out of the fighting norms, they have no control over them. i think that scares the taliban. they can only be a force, a military force, that drives fear — can they provide governance and will the afghan people accept them, it can only be known if they participate in and the democratic process and let the afg ha n democratic process and let the afghan people choose and not be forced upon them. hamdullah mohib, we have to end in there. but i thank you forjoining me on hardtalk. well, thank you for having me. hello there.

we have got much colder weather by the end of the week. monday was a cooler day and, with the clearer skies following the sunshine, we have seen temperatures not far from freezing in some rural parts across the southern half of the uk. it will warm up in the sunshine. for most places it is going to be dry today with a brisk wind blowing. probably not quite as windy across the northern half of the uk as it was yesterday but strong wind around this area of high pressure and those weather fronts focusing some cloud and rain. mainly for the north and west of scotland,

some sunshine at times for eastern scotland. 40—5mph gusts across scotland and the pennines and hazy sunshine. rest of the sunshine across other parts of england and wales. it may be warmer on tuesday, those temperatures at 16, 17 degrees even in the sunshine of eastern scotland. we still have winds easing down through the course of the evening and overnight. the rain beginning to ease off a little bit as well. some cloud will push further down into england and wales. so it probably won't be as cold overnight into wednesday morning. it will always be the sunniest across southern and eastern parts of england. perhaps eastern scotland for a while. elsewhere there is quite a bit of cloud coming in on that north—westerly breeze. by this stage, the winds will not be as strong and the rain will ease off, just for a while, in the north—west of scotland. and those temperatures could again hit 16, 17 degrees. so quite mild for this time of year. there is still high pressure to the south—west of the uk, we've still got these weather fronts running around the top of that area of high pressure.

this one is the significant one, because it is behind that that we will really get some cold air. not just yet, though. thursday should be dry for many, there will be some sunshine around. probably a bit more cloud coming into england and wales. we have got this rain gathering in the north—west of scotland, temperatures perhaps a shade lower. typically 12—14 degrees. that rain that is gathering is on the cold front there, and that is significant because behind it the wind direction changes. we draw all ourair from the arctic, plunging down — much colder conditions on friday. we draw all ourair from the arctic, plunging down, much colder conditions on friday. there is the cold front, not a great deal of rain on that across southern parts of england. sunny skies follow and showers coming from the north, they're starting to turn over the high ground in scotland where it it will feel close to freezing. briefly we may find temperatures is may reach double figures in the south. last weekend we were up to 20 degrees. this weekend we are struggling to make double figures. most places will be dry with sunshine and there will be showers around and those will be wintry over the high ground

in the north. this is the briefing. i'm ben bland. our top stories: as turkey prepares to reveal all about the murder ofjamal khashoggi, the us treasury secretary holds talks in riyadh with the saudi crown prince. president trump warns that the us will build up its nuclear arsenal to pressure russia and china as he threatens to pull out of a landmark treaty. spanning 55 kilometres, the world's longest sea bridge linking hong kong and macau to mainland china, is open for business. in the light of the khashoggi murder, top business leaders are pulling out of the major investment conference that kicks off today in saudi arabia — what difference will it make?