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what can we do for you? >> and now "bbc world news." >> welcome to a special edition of "gmt." the day, what help -- what hope of winning over taliban fighters? we have specific details from inside of the jails of taliban detainee's and speak to those on the outside that have no plans to give up fighting. >> the day that the foreign forces will be afghanistan, we will sit down with the government. if they do not except our demands, we will continue to attack. >> also in the program, of freedom. the british couple beat by

somali pirates will soon be on their way home. farmers in africa are suffering and need aid from their counterparts. 7:00 a.m. in washington, 6:30 a.m. in evening in rangoon. welcome to a special edition of " -- special edition of "gmt." the conflict in afghanistan is in its 10th year and as time goes on and becomes more clear that success or failure will depend on reconciling thousands of afghans in the insurgency. our correspondent has had exclusive access to the detention center. he reports now on the success of winning them over and new

recruits that are joining the taliban cause. >> these are some of the most dangerous men in afghanistan. taliban fighters, brought to the u.s. new prison. the new jail is designed to wipe away memories of past prisoner abuse. that starts with the taliban. the americans hope to rehabilitate them. insurgents that once planted bombs are being taught how to plant sunflowers. according to one estimate, 80% of the taliban fight within walking distance of their own homes because they have no jobs. the aim here is to give these men skills and an alternative will these classes get the insurgents to take sides?

we interviewed the detainee's. some of the taliban are ideological. we went to meet a middle ranking taliban commander. the capital is under government control but insurgents still come and go. he says he has 900 fighters in the province. the taliban line is quite simple. no peace negotiations until the americans leave. >> my advice to the americans is that if their families are suffering from their presence here, they should go. as long as one american remains, we will not stop. but what then? -- >> what then?

>> the day that foreign forces leave afghanistan, we will sit down with the government. if they do not accept demands, we will continue the attack. >> a ragtag army, perhaps, but in places the taliban are in charge. along with their checkpoints, the insurgents create their own administration. here, is love and justice is dispensed. >> paying bribes to the courts of slave governments and westerners. the court of the islamic emirates is not corruption. islamic emirates is mercy and

kindness. >> even within the government military there are taliban loyalists. insurgents are getting new recruits, like this man. civil servant by day, taliban volunteer by night. >> i joined the taliban because of what the americans are doing to this country breaking down doors in the middle of the night, killing innocent people. if i die fighting dempster i will get the chance to be martyred. >> there are certain of their ability to recruit people. said at fighting the way out of the insurgency is not the answer, but there must always be a political dialogue.

>> a military flight south forex prisoners. the success of prisoners to rehabilitate. it is too soon to know if they will also return to the taliban. such decisions made in villages across the country determine the difference between victory and defeat in afghanistan. >> the entire idea of talking to the taliban with some kind of negotiation? jonathan, forgive me. we are in the middle of a military base and i can hear another helicopter taking off. this is, after all, the middle of a war zone. i think you are talking about if there is a broader scenario to all of this.

when you ask people here, both with military chiefs and in cobble less, right now, as you would expect, the military is in its dependency. but clearly there will someday be. where there is a transition to something else fight talk. there are no direct talks but the moment. the civilian chief here in this country, he says that there have been direct talks between the afghan government. some sections of the taliban, or other insurgent groups. the nato role in this is not direct, but certainly they are in a position to facilitate talks. britain had an experience of this, but in northern ireland

there was a time where people had to get down to the business of talking. i spoke to a founding member of the taliban he does not speak for the taliban but is clearly in a position to know what they are thinking. it was quite interesting, ahead by making, if i can put it that way. -- headline making, if i can put it that way. he said that if foreign forces left the country the taliban would be in a position to said that they would not be in a place for other foreign forces. one should be very careful not to jump ahead. this is still a war zone and there is still a conflict going on. men and women on both sides of

the conflict are dying. there are already people thinking about what happens when that time comes to get down around the table. >> thank you, george. let's take a look that some of the other stories making headlines about the world. as well as can be expected considering their ordeal, after 13 months in captivity and enjoying their first full day of freedom, the british couple who were kidnapped by somali pirates. the ransom was paid. the british government denies that provided the money. let's happy to be out of somalia, paul and rachel chandler at wall less able to make their own plans. last year they were on the trip of a lifetime, sailing around the world in their own yacht until it was seized by pirates in the indian ocean.

after many false starts, they were released on sunday morning. looking thin but in good health and sit -- spirits, they enjoy breakfast with the elders. the couple was clearly keen to leave the dangers of somalia as quickly as possible, but there was one more dangerous journey ahead. they were flown to the capital, one of the most violent places on the planet. driven through these bombed out streets and given a glimpse of the world that has allowed piracy to flourish. in a meeting with the prime minister, rachel chandler talks of her release. the pirates receive several hundred thousand dollars for

them to be set free. their ordeal is over, but more than 500 hostages are left behind. there seems will chance of ending the lucrative piracy business of somalia. >> joining us live from the south of england is karen jack. what do you make of this idea that a ransom was paid? >> it does seem that way but it will must have been by the british government. nothing has yet been substantiated but i am sure that they will tell us everything when they get back. the first ransom was paid by the family. the second one seems to have been paid by the community more recently. >> wanting to pay a ransom, it raises bigger questions about

what happens in future kidnappings. >> ransom should never be paid. if you do that, you make everyone around the world a target. i am sure if it was my family, i would feel differently, but the government has done the right thing. >> if you do not pay a ransom, what is the alternative? >> hostages are generally of no value to the captors if they are not alive. they are only actually valuable while they are alive. they set out and have done very well. someone dignified, everyone is glad that they are now free. >> we are seeing all kinds of ransom paid to the pirates all the time. the largest ever amount was

handed over for another oil tanker. >> the only thing that we can do is make sure that you pay countries -- that the u.k. never pays ransom to pirates. >> thank you very much indeed for speaking to us. the burmese democracy leader once a peaceful release -- peaceful democracy in her country. she has already said that she will speak to the army that kept her in prison for decades. the second safe the incident for the company in two weeks, and malfunction was found on a cockpit instrument in a boeing 747. still to come, why are west of african cotton farmers speaking out against their competitors?

the number of people killed by a cholera epidemic has increased over friday. aid agencies have attempted to prevent the disease from spreading to camps the house earthquake the like -- survivors. >> this young haitian is one of the latest to be struck down by the cholera. the epidemic has struck the heart of the provinces. hospitals are filling up, but medics say that they are coping for the moment. >> we are still seeing dozens of new patients every day. patients that are very ill. we do not know if there will be a surge in numbers. for the last few days we have had inadequate staffing.

>> the cholera is in the capital. the agency is now battling to contain it. before the disease can take hold in these crowded earthquake survivor camps, home to 1 million people, the united nations says that 200,000 haitians could eventually contract cholera. it is estimated to cost $160 million to treat the disease over the next year. in rome, pope benedict has called on the world for help. >> i encourage everyone who is doing their utmost to address this new emergency. i appeal to the international community to generously aid this population. >> help that cannot come soon enough in haiti with a death

toll led rises by the day. >> this is "gmt." the main story so far, burmese pro-democracy leader, aung san suu kyi, says that her aim is for a peaceful resolution. the british couple that was imprisoned by somalis is enjoying their first day of freedom. in a moment we will talk about political lame-duck. first, the highly active aaron. >> speaking of bailout, reports suggest that officials are urging a deal to prevent that crises from spreading across the region. the irish government denies that it needs the eight but has clashed over economic

difficulties. it was explained to me earlier why the european union is so keen to help ireland. >> there has been contagion to some of the other peripheral countries. we have had worries over deficit and that dynamics. the european union is worried that these countries will be brought into the maelstrom. >> new figures show that the grease budget deficit was worse than previously calculated, making it the largest in the euro zone. standing at almost 15.5% of the economic outlook, up from the previous year. of course, this news comes as the european union arrives to

check on the country's austerity plan. they are deciding whether or not to give the country its next portion of money. it was to be the biggest takeover, but instead bhp is facing another high-profile failure. abandoning its efforts to take over the potash corporation local opposition. washington, d.c., and what has been termed a lame duck session. democrats do not hand over control to the republicans until next january. before then, the bush era tax cuts are threatening to expire and burden millions of americans at a time of continued turmoil. >> a ticking time bomb. the american government has been over-spending for years. the national debt is rocketing

up words. the white house deficit commission put it this way. >> the debt is like a cancer that will surely destroy this country from within if we do not fix it. >> hens this growing anxiety is about to crashed headlong into taxes. tax cuts set forth by president bush expire in seven weeks and millions could face a tax increase. >> it would hurt me and my ability to pay my expenses. >> a republican voter that does not want his taxes to go up. >> not only does it hurt me, but it means i will not go out to dinner as much and take the waiter or waitress. i will not go shopping for a new shirt, or slacks. >> president obama had wanted to renew tax relief for the majority.

that looks much less likely now that republicans control the lower house of congress. the national taxpayers union says that there will be a deal. >> the likely outcome is that all of the 2001 and 2003 taxpayer relief laws will be extended. but only for a limited period of time. this debate will likely continue in the next congress. >> this is the backdrop, $13 trillion in national debt. can americans really afford to give people tax cuts? even if they could help with the economic recovery? flex a quick look at the markets. asian and europe, flat or mostly down. the euro zone has pretty much been taken over. mix in the fact that we have also seen a jump in u.s. treasury yields and it pushes

the dollar higher. copper has seen gains amid concerns that china could take further steps to stop this. >> let's pick up on that lame- duck sessions in the u.s. congress. the name says it all. with the new congress now beginning until january, what can be achieved between now and then? james joins us live from washington. earlier in the program we were hearing about the tax cuts. that will be the key element, is it not? >> congress has punted on this for almost one year. they could have reached some kind of deal, but they have not. there seems to be some headway. a couple of senators over the weekend indicated that they might let the tax cut to expire

for people making over $1 million. it is a significant change and could be a welcome sign. republicans had huge gains in the house of representatives and said they did not want to raise taxes on any one. republicans have the rhetorical upper hand. they could say that the american people voted democrats out. >> an interesting point. historically, lame-duck sessions are about the center of politics, but really not this time? >> not at all. in the backdrop of all of this, leadership elections are going to be going on. republicans have a less contentious leadership battle. congress has to pass a stopgap pavement, funding the government. there is a lot going on. politically it is a tough time for democrats, as you know. there is not much that they will

agree upon over the next couple of weeks. it is a mad dash until the end of the year and there are not many things that they agree on. >> what about who would lead them? >> house speaker, nancy pelosi, who just led to her party to a defeat, is trying to stay in leadership. a strange move for a rare move. most of the speakers retire or resign after this kind of move. not a welcome sign for the more conservative wing of her party, who does not like her. but she is likely to win and likely to remain. the democratic party is trying to coalesce around the message that they have not been able to quite yet, wrangling central principles that will take them back to the majority in two years. >> thank you. the united states in european union are condit -- coming under

a tax for the subsidies they give to their farmers that make life difficult for farmers elsewhere. cotton farmers in west africa are the latest. they say that the u.s. and european union policies are highly damaging to africa. >> bringing in the harvest in west africa. campaigners backing up these farmers say that they produce the cheapest, and in the world, so demand for their outcome should be strong. cotton production in the united states pays almost $1 billion each year in subsidies. boosting world supply and reducing the prices that other farmers concerned. producers in the united states said the guarantees millions of stable jobs on farms and related industries in some parts of the

country's. nowhere near as poor as the cut will growing space of west africa. -- cotton growing space of west africa. cotton, boosting the income by up to 10%. an increase that could make a big difference. a small number of west african farming families already benefit from higher prices for their cotton. premium prices paid for organically produced crops. a specialist market in the writ -- in the western world. >> that is all from "gmt" for the moment. stay with us, there is plenty more to come from georgia in

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