Warning for Pakistan as US talks to insurgents

THE Obama administration increased pressure on Pakistan to do more to crack down on Islamist militants destabilising Afghanistan yesterday, as secretary of state Hillary Clinton admitted American officials had opened direct talks with militants in the country.

Mrs Clinton pressed Pakistani authorities to step up efforts against the Haqqani militant network, which is based in the country’s rugged tribal region, and is blamed for attacks both inside Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan.

However, she also confirmed that American officials have reached out to the network to test its interest in peace talks.

She said that the meeting was organised by Pakistan’s intelligence service and was considered a preliminary move to see if the Haqqanis would show up. She now wants to develop a sequence for negotiations.

After leading a large delegation for four hours of talks with Pakistani officials late on Thursday, Mrs Clinton met with Pakistan’s president and foreign minister yesterday.

“We should be able to agree that for too long extremists have been able to operate here in Pakistan and from Pakistani soil,” she said. “No-one who targets innocent civilians, whether they be Pakistanis, Afghans, Americans or anyone else should be tolerated or protected.”

The US has grown increasingly impatient with Pakistan’s refusal to take military action against the Taleban-linked Haqqani network, and its ambivalence, if not hostility, to supporting Afghan attempts to reconcile Taleban fighters into society.

Mrs Clinton made clear that that was no longer acceptable while American officials warned that if Pakistan continued to dither, the US would act to end the threat.

The Haqqani group is considered the greatest threat to American troops in Afghanistan, and US officials have accused Pakistan’s military spy agency, the ISI, of providing it with support – an allegation which is denied by Islamabad.