KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is set to announce a new scheme for forging peace with the Islamist Taliban and other militants fighting to topple his government, his spokesman said Sunday.

The plan would be announced ahead of a key international conference set for London on January 28 at which the country's security and development will be discussed, said Waheed Omar.

Conceding that past efforts at peace have failed, Omar said the new plan would include economic incentives, as many men carrying guns for the Taliban do so for cash rather than ideology.

"We have done some things in the past but we have not done enough," Omar told reporters.

"We have not been able to provide proper security for those who join the government. We may have not been very good at providing them with economic opportunities, jobs and anything else anybody would want after reintegration," he said.

"The scheme we are proposing this time is taking all those into consideration and learning from the past and trying to come up with a proper programme where we have all the necessary ground to allow those joining the programme to have a peaceful life," he said.

Karzai has long been calling for peace talks with the Taliban -- sometimes even offering government posts to its leaders -- but the militia has consistently refused to enter into any dialogue with Kabul until international forces leave the country.

Omar said the reintegration programme would reach out to all ranks, from the political leadership to fighters on the ground.

The United States and NATO allies currently have 113,000 troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban-led insurgency, with another 40,000 being deployed this year.