Islamabad: The US special envoy to Pakistan
and Afghanistan today said that Washington was not against
reconciliation with militants, but with the Haqqani network it
was "hard to imagine."
The Haqqani network`s leadership is based in Pakistan and
has close ties with foreign militant groups including
Al-Qaeda, and a long history in Afghanistan.
"Hard to imagine," was Richard Holbrooke`s response to
reporters in Islamabad when asked if the Jalaluddin
Haqqani-led militant group was reconcilable.
"But I do want to underscore that we have some very clear
publicly stated criteria and one is renounce Al-Qaeda and
other is participate voluntarily in the peaceful evolution of
Afghanistan within its constitution," Holbrooke said.
"And this is hard to see that happening, but who knows."
Holbrooke acknowledged that Pakistan was trying to fight
the Haqqani network in North Waziristan, a tribal district
bordering Afghanistan.
"The Pakistanis are trying to deal with this problem,
they are well aware of it and even in the area in North
Waziristan there is some activity going on, but there is a lot
more that could be done if the resources were available."
PTI
