Afghan, Pakistani meeting agrees to Taliban talks

[October 28, 2008]  ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani and Afghan political and tribal leaders have agreed to establish contacts with the Taliban to end the insurgencies in both countries.

Tuesday's declaration came at the end of a two-day meeting or "jirga" that was endorsed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments.

Former Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah says committees would soon be formed to establish "contacts" with those insurgent groups willing to accept the supremacy of the constitutions in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP's earlier story is below.

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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani and Afghan tribal chiefs were seeking ways Tuesday to end the violence dogging their countries, including offering talks to Taliban militants.

Tribal and political leaders were concluding a two-day jirga, or traditional council, set up to foster cooperation between the uneasy allies of the United States. The meeting of some 50 leaders in Islamabad is a follow-up to a much larger "peace council" in Kabul last year which vowed to fight terrorism together.

The Taliban has gained strength in both countries, and there are increasing calls for dialogue with the insurgents as a way to ease the turmoil.

The idea for the jirga process had been hatched almost a year earlier during a White House meeting between President Bush, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.

The pledges of cross-border cooperation made in 2007 have largely failed to materialize.

Karzai has accused Pakistan of secretly aiding the Taliban -- a charge Islamabad rejects as an attempt to mask failures of the government and international community in Afghanistan.

Still, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said Pakistan's return to full democratic rule -- former army chief Musharraf resigned as president in August -- had changed the equation in favor of cooperation against terrorism.

"A democratic polity draws its strength from the mandate of the people. It has a much greater chance of success than a dictatorship," he said.

Qureshi told the council on Monday that talks should be open to "sons of the soil willing to forsake the path of violence."

Violence in both countries has risen steadily since U.S.-led forces drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in 2001. Many militants fled to Pakistan's border regions, where they have established bases and struck back with increasing success.

The Afghan government is seeking talks with elements in the Taliban leadership in an effort at reconciliation and the Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan said the two sides recently had contacts in Saudi Arabia.

U.S. officials, who are preparing to reinforce their troops in Afghanistan, have played down the significance of the talks.

However, some in Pakistan have seized on the Afghan initiative to push back against constant U.S. pressure for a military crackdown in Pakistan's wild tribal belt.

The Pakistan army is already involved in heavy fighting in two northwestern regions, but faces criticism because of civilian casualties and the destruction caused by airstrikes and artillery bombardments.

[Associated Press]

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