Afghanistan has sought Pakistan’s help to engage in a peace dialogue with the Haqqani network, the most influential Taliban faction, and said that the Pak-Afghan Joint Commission established recently for the promotion of peace on both sides of the border could play a key role. The Haqqani network is closely allied with the Mullah Omar-led Taliban and is led by veteran militant commander Maulvi Jalaluddin Haqqani and his son Sirajuddin Haqqani.
The Afghan government, led by President Hamid Karzai, has sought Islamabad’s help in reaching out to the Haqqani network for peace talks. This is the second time that Kabul has approached Pakistan for a dialogue with the network. Its previous request a few months ago could not be accepted because of strong opposition from the US to the proposal. US authorities still seem to be against the idea of dialogue with the Haqqanis owing to its close ties with Al Qaeda, but diplomatic circles here say that if the Haqqani network was ready for peace talks than Washington could also come up with support for such talks.
“The recent tough talk by (US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman) Admiral Mullen about alleged ISI-Haqqani network links had one of two motives, either to push Pakistan for a military offensive against the Haqqani network or to nudge it towards exerting pressure on the militant group to enter into meaningful peace talks with Kabul,” said a Pakistani diplomat who was privy to recent developments in the Afghanistan reconciliation process but did not wish to be named.
He said the Afghan government’s request to Pakistan for a facilitator’s role in talks with the Haqqani network and Islamabad’s position on the vital issue would now be discussed with US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman, who was likely to reach Islamabad on Thursday on a two-day visit to discuss the plan for the next Pak-US strategic dialogue to be held in Islamabad next month. However, he said that any success of the Pak-Afghan Joint Commission in reaching out to the Haqqani network and other Taliban factions would depend on the support from the US for the initiatives to be taken by the body in future.
