AKORA KHATTAK, Pakistan — At the hard- line Islamic school that spawned a generation of Afghan Taliban leaders, the top cleric still lectures his students to go to Afghanistan to fight Americans. But he says he’s willing to help bring insurgents to peace talks.
The offer by the influential “father of the Taliban” raises some hope for American attempts to find a negotiated end to the 10-year-old war — not necessarily because he will indeed be brought in as a mediator, but more because it gives a sign that there is a willingness among the Taliban and their allies to talk, something that has been thrown in doubt by months of setbacks in efforts to start negotiations.
“There must be some way out,” Maulana Sami-ul-Haq said. “A way out that can also give America a respectable exit. Bloodletting is not a solution.”
America’s public commitment to peace talks is stronger then ever as it works to bring the bulk of its troops home from Afghanistan by 2014. It has called on Pakistan to bring insurgents into the process, but so far there has been little progress.
American officials believe greater military pressure against the insurgents is still needed — through operations in Afghanistan and drone strikes in the Pakistan border region, an approach it calls “fighting and talking.”
“We are pounding them, and there is some evidence that people would like to come to an agreement,” said a senior U.S. official, who didn’t give his name because of the diplomatic sensitivities surrounding the reconciliation process. “The Pakistanis tell us that there are guys that want to talk.”
In a new pressure move, the United States on Tuesday designated Mali Khan, a commander in the militant Haqqani network, as a specially designated global terrorist. The designation freezes any assets or property he may have in U.S. jurisdictions and barring Americans from providing him with material support.
