Pakistani, Afghan elders aim to open Taliban talks
(Adds comment from senior U.S. official, paragraphs 5, 17-19)
By Zeeshan Haider
ISLAMABAD, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed on Tuesday to establish contacts jointly with Taliban militants through tribal leaders after two days of talks over how to end bloodshed in both countries.
But a Taliban spokesman rejected the idea.
Violence has intensified in Afghanistan and Pakistan in recent months, raising fears for the prospects of both countries at the heart of the U.S.-led global campaign against militancy.
The violence has strained ties between the neighboring U.S. allies. Afghanistan complains Pakistan has not done enough to stop Taliban infiltrating from sanctuaries in its northwestern ethnic Pashtun lands.
In the United States, a senior U.S. official said the Bush administration also was considering talks with "reconcilable" Taliban elements, as part of its review of Afghanistan strategy.
Pashtun tribal elders and Afghan and Pakistani politicians met at a so-called jirgagai, or mini-jirga, in Islamabad to follow up on a grand assembly in Kabul last year in which delegates called for talks with the Taliban.
This time, they said they would form teams to open contacts with the hardline Islamist militants.
"We agreed that contacts should be established with the opposition in both sides ... through jirgagai," former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who led the Afghan side in the talks, told a news conference.
Asked whether opposition groups included the Taliban, Owais Ahmed Ghani, governor of Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, said: "Yes, it includes all those who are involved in the conflict."
'WORTHLESS'
But the Taliban swiftly rejected the call for dialogue -- a spokesman said it was "worthless."
"This jirga was founded by the Americans. It has no power, no respect," Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said by satellite telephone from an undisclosed location.
"We will not hold any dialogue while foreign troops commanded by the Americans are in our country," he said.
A jirga, or traditional council, is a consultative system the proudly independent Pashtuns have used for more than 1,000 years to settle affairs of the nation or rally behind a cause.
Asked about the possibility of talks with the Taliban, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the United States was sceptical there were Taliban ready to renounce violence.
"But we do recognize the need to try to reconcile with some of these elements," she said.
Earlier this month, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the United States would be prepared to reconcile with the Taliban if the Afghan government pursued talks.
A senior U.S. official on Tuesday said the Bush administration was mulling whether it should engage in talks with Taliban members who renounce violence, but that no decision had been taken.
"I don't think anything has been formally decided that we are going to engage in discussions with any elements of the Taliban, but let's see where the review comes down," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The review is being conducted during President George W. Bush's final weeks in office; he steps down in January. This means the advice will go to the next U.S. president, either Republican John McCain or Democrat Barack Obama, who will be under no obligation to accept it.
Deteriorating Afghan security has frustrated the United States and led to a string of U.S. strikes on militant targets in Pakistan, angering Pakistan. Islamabad says the attacks violate its sovereignty and bolster support for militants.
Afghanistan took a first step toward opening talks with the Taliban with a meeting in Saudi Arabia last month between a group of pro-government Afghan officials and former Taliban officials. But the Taliban dismissed those talks too.
The United States is wary of efforts to make peace with militants, saying short-lived Pakistani peace pacts over the past few years had only given the militants breathing space.
The 50 delegates meeting in Islamabad also called on their governments to take steps to eliminate sanctuaries for militants in areas on their border. (Additional reporting by Saeed Ali Achakzai, and by Susan Cornwell in Washington; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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