Afghan imbroglio: US open to peace talks with Haqqanis

Clinton says it’s too soon to tell whether any militant group is serious for talks.

WASHINGTON: Afghan President Hamid Karzai may believe pursuing talks with the Taliban insurgents is “useless”, but the US administration doesn’t seem to agree.

The idea may sound surprising, given the clamour created by the US regarding the Haqqanis and Pakistan’s links to the network, but US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says that the doors are still open for talks with the group.

“We view the Haqqanis and other of their ilk as, you know, being adversaries and being very dangerous to the Americans, Afghans and coalition members inside Afghanistan, but we are not shutting the door on trying to determine whether there is some path forward,” Hillary Clinton said when asked whether she believed members of the Haqqani network might reconcile with the Afghan government.

“It’s too soon to tell whether any of these groups or any individuals within them are serious,” she said in an interview with Reuters.

The US blames the Haqqani network, allegedly headquartered in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal agency, for funneling fighters into Afghanistan to attack US-led coalition forces.

The group’s head Sirajuddin Haqqani said in a recent interview that the American peace overtures were a ploy to divide the Taliban movement. “We are not a separate group. We’re a part of the Taliban movement. If they (the Americans) are serious in pursuing talks, they should talk to the Taliban leadership council,” Sirajuddin said in the audio interview posted on the Taliban’s ‘Voice of Jihad’ website. US officials have been trying to reach out to insurgent group. Last month, media reports said that US officials met with Haqqani network representatives last year for peace talks. Though the State Department refused to divulge the details, Sirajuddin said that the Americans offered his network a ‘major share’ in the Afghan government.

(Read: Afghan endgame - US peace overture to Haqqani network revealed)

The issue of Haqqani network has been bedeviling Pakistan-US relations since the Sept 13 attack on the US embassy and Nato’s country headquarters in Kabul. US officials said the attack was carried out by the Haqqani network with the support of Pakistan’s spy agency ISI. The then Chief of Joint Staff Admiral Mike Mullen went to the extent that he called the Haqqani network a “veritable arm” of the ISI.

(Read: Volley heats up: ISI targeted in bitter Mullen tirade)

Pakistan’s army rejected the allegations with its chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani saying that Admiral Mullen “knows well which countries were in contact with the Haqqanis.” Sirajuddin endorsed Gen Kayani’s assertion and said that several Muslim and non-Muslim countries, including the US, were in touch with his group.

On Wednesday, Secretary Clinton, despite her conciliatory signals, said that her country would stick to its military campaign that “will make militants more likely to enter serious negotiations.”

“Now, it is also true that we are still trying to kill and capture or neutralise them (the Haqqani network),” Clinton said. “And they are still trying to, you know, kill as many Americans, Afghans and coalition members as they can.” “In many instances where there is an ongoing conflict, you are fighting and looking to talk,” Clinton said. “And then eventually maybe you are fighting and talking. And then maybe you’ve got a cease-fire. And then maybe you are just talking.”

It is unclear how quickly a peace deal could be had, as it remains unclear how military commanders can achieve and defend security improvements as the foreign force in Afghanistan gradually grows smaller.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 13^th, 2011.