BERLIN — Afghan President Hamid Karzai has told a German newspaper that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar could run for president in elections next year.

Karzai’s government has agreed the Taliban can open an office in Qatar if the group breaks all ties with al-Qaida and renounces terrorism. Karzai was in Qatar Sunday to discuss the issue.

Karzai said in an interview published Tuesday by the German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung that authorities have “sporadic contacts” with the Taliban. He said that the Afghan constitution is valid for all Afghans and “the Taliban also should benefit from it.”

Asked whether Mullah Omar should seek the presidency, Karzai was quoted as saying: “He can become a candidate for the presidency and give Afghans the opportunity to vote for or against him.”

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  • Afghan special forces hold their guns after a gun battle near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. A brazen, 18-hour Taliban attack on the Afghan capital ended early Monday when insurgents who had holed up overnight in two buildings were overcome by heavy gunfire from Afghan-led forces and pre-dawn air assaults from U.S.-led coalition helicopters. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

  • A soldier, part of the NATO forces, carries a sniffing dog after a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

  • Afghan special forces are seen on top of a building that was occupied by militants, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

  • NATO soldiers run during a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 15, 2012. The Taliban launched a series of coordinated attacks on as many as seven sites across the Afghan capital on Sunday, targeting NATO bases, the parliament and Western embassies. Militants also launched near-simultaneous assaults in three other eastern cities. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

  • An Afghan woman cries as she talks on the phone to her family during a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

  • An Afghan soldier aims his rocket launcher toward a building, unseen, occupied by militants during a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Nazar)

  • NATO soldiers run during a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

  • An Afghan soldier stands guard as a helicopter flies low over the scene of a suicide attack on the U.S.-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT) compound in the Behsood district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Phot/Rahmat Gul)

  • An Afghan man examines the remains of a car after three suicide bombers were killed before they reached Jalalabad airport, which security forces say was their target, in Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Phot/Rahmat Gul)

  • U.S. Army soldiers respond after a suicide attack on the U.S.-led provincial reconstruction team (PRT) compound in the Behsood district of Jalalabad, east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday, April 15, 2012. (AP Phot/Rahmat Gul)

  • Gunfire and smoke is seen coming out of a building occupied by militants during a battle with Afghan-led forces, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. The Afghan capital awoke Monday to a second day of explosions and heavy gunfire as Afghan-led forces worked to defeat insurgents holed up in the building in the heart of the city and another near parliament. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

  • The body of an alleged militant is seen on the ground after a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

  • Afghan police officers pass a building that was used by militants in a gun battle, near the Afghan parliament in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

  • The bodies of alleged militants are seen on the ground after a gun battle in Kabul, Afghanistan, Monday, April 16, 2012. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)