By DAVID STRINGER and JILL LAWLESS

Associated Press

LONDON -- Afghan President Hamid Karzai warned Thursday that foreign troops must stay in his country for another decade, as world powers agreed on an exit map including a plan to persuade Taliban fighters to disarm in exchange for jobs and homes.

Divisions emerged between the U.S. and its partners over Kabul's willingness to offer peace to Taliban leaders who once harbored al-Qaida, instead of the more limited deal for lower-ranking fighters emphasized by the U.S.

All agree reconciliation means bringing in what Mark Sedwill, NATO's newly appointed civilian chief in Afghanistan, called "some pretty unsavory characters."

The conference was called to help the U.S. and its allies find a way out of the grinding Afghan war amid rising casualties and falling public support. NATO has agreed to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces and gradually transfer more combat responsibility to them.

"With regard to training and equipping the Afghan security forces, five to 10 years will be enough," Karzai told the BBC. "With regard to sustaining them until Afghanistan is financially able to provide for our forces, the time will be extended to 10 to 15 years."

The 70 nations and international organizations backed Karzai's plan to reintegrate Taliban willing to "cut ties with al-Qaida and other terrorist groups and pursue their political goals peacefully."

Karzai said neighboring Pakistan and Saudi Arabia -- which together facilitated the rise of the radical Islamic movement in the 1990s -- would play a key role in the reintegration process.

The Afghan leader will convene a peace conference soon to involve Afghan leaders, members of civil groups and clerics, Afghanistan's departing foreign minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta said.

"You don't make peace with your friends," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said. "You have to be willing to engage with your enemies if you expect to create a situation that ends an insurgency."

But U.S. officials balk at talk of an Afghan government that includes allies of Mullah Mohammed Omar -- the Taliban leader who refused to hand over Osama bin Laden after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. His refusal led to the Afghan war.

U.S. Special Representative Richard Holbrooke said the peace plan should focus on low-ranking Taliban fighters motivated by money, not ideology -- rather than on the leadership.