Worried US ’skeptical’ over Pak’s Afghan reconciliation efforts

NEW YORK - Pakistan’s concealed efforts to push for a reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban has worried the United States to a great extent as both President Barack Obama and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief Leon Panetta have voiced their skepticism over the issue.

Speaking on the sidelines on the G-20 Summit in Toronto, Obama said that while a political solution to the conflict in Afghanistan was necessary, Pakistan’s efforts in this regard would have to be seen with ’skepticism’.

“I think it’s too early to tell. I think we have to view these efforts with skepticism but also with openness. The Taliban is a blend of hard-core ideologues, tribal leaders, kids that basically sign up because it’s the best job available to them,” Obama said.

“Not all of them are going to be thinking the same way about the Afghan government, about the future of Afghanistan. And so we’re going to have to sort through how these talks take place,” he added.

Obama, however, avoided any direct comment on whether the Haqqani network, the dreaded Taliban group reportedly proposed by Pakistan as part of a deal, could become part of Afghanistan’s future leadership, The New York Times reports.

CIA head chief Leon Panetta, appeared more vociferous while expressing doubts over Islamabad’s intentions of brokering a deal between the Afghan Taliban and the war torn country’s leadership.

Speaking during ABC’s ‘This Week’ programme, Panetta said so far there has been no indication from the Afghan Taliban leaders that they are willing to shun violence to join the government.

“We have seen no evidence that they are truly interested in reconciliation, where they would surrender their arms, where they would denounce Al Qaeda, where they would really try to become part of that society,” Panetta said.

He also underlined that the Taliban and its allies have little motive to contemplate a power-sharing arrangement in Afghanistan.

“We’ve seen no evidence of that and very frankly, my view is that with regards to reconciliation, unless they’re convinced that the United States is going to win and that they’re going to be defeated, I think it’s very difficult to proceed with a reconciliation that’s going to be meaningful,” Panetta said.

While officials in the Obama administration have acknowledged that reconciliation with some top ranking Taliban fighters will most likely be necessary for peace, they have strongly objected to any power-sharing deal with such Afghan Taliban leaders as Sirajuddin Haqqani and his father, Jalaluddin, or with the Taliban warlord Mullah Muhammad Omar.

On the other hand, Islamabad and Afghan President Hamid Karzai are of the view that with the United States scheduled to begin pulling out of Afghanistan next year, it is necessary to work out a coalition involving the Taliban. (ANI)