<p>Afghanistan government held direct talks with senior members of the Haqqani clan, a close al-Qaeda ally over the summer, the Guardian reported today quoting well-placed Pakistani and Arab sources.<br /><br />The US contacts have been indirect, through a western intermediary, but have continued for more than a year. The Afghan and US talks were described as extremely tentative. The Haqqani network has a reputation for ruthlessness, even by the standards of the Afghan insurgency, and has the closest ties with al-Qaeda.<br /><br />But Washington and Kabul have come to the conclusion that they cannot be excluded if an enduring peace settlement is to be reached. According to the report, a senior western official said the US now considers the Haqqani network to be more powerful than the Quetta Shura, the 15-man leadership council headed by the Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar.<br /><br />"The Quetta Shura is still important but not as much as people thought two years ago. Its prestige and impact have waned, and they are increasingly less important on the battlefield. Now the military threat comes from the Haqqanis," the official said.<br /><br />The twin poles of the insurgency are located at least 400 km apart along the Durand Line, the lawless Pakistani border. The Haqqanis, who come from Khost in Afghanistan, are anchored in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.<br /><br />The Washington Post reported yesterday that there had been top-level contacts between Kabul and Quetta Shura, but not the Haqqani network. Kabul and the Haqqanis have also denied any contacts. The CIA chief, Leon Panetta, said in June that he did not believe the group had any real desire for reconciliation.<br /><br />However, the contacts were confirmed to the newspaper by western, Arab and Pakistani official sources, who all said the Haqqanis sense that a negotiated settlement is the most likely outcome of the conflict, which enters its 10th year today, and are anxious not to be excluded.<br /><br />Speaking of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has taken over military leadership of the Haqqani group from his ailing father, Jalaluddin, a diplomat involved in the discussions said: "The ice has broken. He realises he could be a nobody if he doesn't enter the process."</p>
<p>Afghanistan government held direct talks with senior members of the Haqqani clan, a close al-Qaeda ally over the summer, the Guardian reported today quoting well-placed Pakistani and Arab sources.<br /><br />The US contacts have been indirect, through a western intermediary, but have continued for more than a year. The Afghan and US talks were described as extremely tentative. The Haqqani network has a reputation for ruthlessness, even by the standards of the Afghan insurgency, and has the closest ties with al-Qaeda.<br /><br />But Washington and Kabul have come to the conclusion that they cannot be excluded if an enduring peace settlement is to be reached. According to the report, a senior western official said the US now considers the Haqqani network to be more powerful than the Quetta Shura, the 15-man leadership council headed by the Taliban's leader, Mullah Omar.<br /><br />"The Quetta Shura is still important but not as much as people thought two years ago. Its prestige and impact have waned, and they are increasingly less important on the battlefield. Now the military threat comes from the Haqqanis," the official said.<br /><br />The twin poles of the insurgency are located at least 400 km apart along the Durand Line, the lawless Pakistani border. The Haqqanis, who come from Khost in Afghanistan, are anchored in the Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan.<br /><br />The Washington Post reported yesterday that there had been top-level contacts between Kabul and Quetta Shura, but not the Haqqani network. Kabul and the Haqqanis have also denied any contacts. The CIA chief, Leon Panetta, said in June that he did not believe the group had any real desire for reconciliation.<br /><br />However, the contacts were confirmed to the newspaper by western, Arab and Pakistani official sources, who all said the Haqqanis sense that a negotiated settlement is the most likely outcome of the conflict, which enters its 10th year today, and are anxious not to be excluded.<br /><br />Speaking of Sirajuddin Haqqani, who has taken over military leadership of the Haqqani group from his ailing father, Jalaluddin, a diplomat involved in the discussions said: "The ice has broken. He realises he could be a nobody if he doesn't enter the process."</p>