Pakistan advises Holbrooke talk to Taliban moderates

By Simon Cameron-Moore

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan advised President Barack Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday to reach out to reconcilable elements of the Taliban movement as part of a strategy for peace in the region.

Envoy Richard Holbrooke met with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and army chief General Ashfaq Kayani during a visit that will last until Thursday.

Holbrooke's priorities are turning the tide against a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, crushing al Qaeda and making sure neither country is again used as a base for followers of Osama bin Laden's global jihad.

The U.S. plan to double the number of troops in Afghanistan to over 60,000 in the next 18 months would only work if it was accompanied by political engagement with Taliban moderates, warned Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi.

"Obviously, there are some irreconcilable elements and no one wants to deal with them ... But there is a reconcilable element and we should not overlook their importance," he said.

Late last year, Saudi Arabia helped bring together former Taliban officials and Afghans linked to the government for talks.

But Afghanistan mistrusts Pakistani involvement.

President Hamid Karzai's government suspects Pakistani spies secretly back the Taliban in the hope of eventually regaining influence in Kabul, despite Islamabad having publicly abandoned support for the Islamist militia in 2001.

"RED LINES"

Known for his bulldozing style negotiating an end to war in the former Yugoslavia almost 15 years ago, Holbrooke is new to South Asia and his appointment demonstrated the importance Obama gives to the region.

Expected to set out a new strategy for a NATO summit on April 2, Holbrooke said when he arrived on Monday that he wanted to hear the differing viewpoints as he goes from Islamabad to Kabul, and finally to India.

Pakistan's fragile 10-month old civilian government needs political and financial support, as an emergency loan from the International Monetary Fund last staved off virtual bankruptcy.

Qureshi said Holbrooke's visit marked a "new beginning" in relations with the United States, but he also called for mutual respect and a rethink on the use of U.S. drone aircraft to eliminate militant targets on Pakistani soil.

"We also have to have red lines on what is acceptable and what is not acceptable to the U.S., and what is acceptable and not acceptable to Pakistan," Qureshi told a news conference.

U.S. officials say the missile attacks have significantly degraded the mid-level al Qaeda leadership.