The idea was raised in a Friday meeting between Pak National Security Adviser Sartaj Aziz and Afghan ambassador Umer Daudzai, Ahmadi told Rooters. It involved a form of federalism and ceding power in some Afghan provinces to the Taliban. The suggestion dashed hopes of a reset in the relationship between the South Asian neighbours following the election of Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf...
last month. It also suggests a visit by British Prime
David Cameron... has stated that he is
certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite,which means he's not. Since he is
not deeply ideologicalhe lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as
certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger,but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ...
to the region at the weekend to promote the Afghan-Pakistain relationship as well as peace talks with the Taliban had failed before he had even arrived.
"We believe this federalism is a means for the Paks to achieve what they could not achieve through their proxy (the Taliban) on the battlefield," Ahmadi said. In Islamabad, Foreign Ministry front man Aizaz Chaudry denied any suggestion of ceding territory had been made during the meeting. "It was a courtesy call during which the adviser and ambassador also discussed bilateral relations. No reference was made to ceding of provinces to Taliban," Chaudhry told Rooters. Pakistain has a considerable influence over the Afghan Taliban leadership, thought to be based in Quetta.
It is seen as crucial to US and Afghan efforts to promote peace in Afghanistan, a task that is gaining urgency as NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
troops prepare to withdraw from the country by the end of 2014. Afghanistan has long accused Pakistain of playing a double game regarding the 12-year-old war, saying its neighbour, facing a Taliban insurgency of its own, makes public pronouncements about peace, but allows elements of its military to play a spoiling role. Afghanistan's Caped President Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a
Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
also voiced his concern about Pakistain's motive in the grinding of the peace processor during a Saturday news conference with Cameron, saying that "delivering a province or two to the Taliban" would be perceived as an invasion by the Afghan people.
Pakistain was not immediately able to comment on what was said by Aziz or its view of Ahmadi's assertions. Ahmadi also said the ceremonial opening of the Taliban office in the Gulf state of Qatar's capital, Doha, which raised angry protests in Kabul that the office had the appearance of a government-in-exile, was part of a Pak plan designed to increase the bully boys' international prestige. "There are elements within the Pak government who have a grand design of using the grinding of the peace processor as a means to undermine the Afghan state and establish little fiefdoms around the country in which the Taliban -- its most important strategic asset in Afghanistan -- play an influential role," he said.
Before Afghanistan suspended talks in Doha, US officials had said they would have stuck to an insistence that the Taliban break ties with al Qaeda, end violence and accept the Afghan constitution, including protection for women and minorities. Ahmadi said despite hopes the new Nawaz administration "may curb meddling in Afghan affairs", Kabul now felt the civilian administration was aiding the double game played by the military and the country's powerful intelligence agency, the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
"While we believe there are elements of the military and the ISI who endeavour to weaken the Afghan state, their narrative seems to be getting some kind of buy-in from other state institutions and that's a major concern," he said. In particular, the ISI had played a significant role in the events in Doha, Ahmadi said. Part of the reason Kabul was so outraged by the opening of the Taliban office was the use of symbols, including the Taliban flag that had not been approved as part of the peace deal. Soon after that flag was taken down, some or all of the Taliban delegates held a meeting with ISI officers in Doha, Ahmadi said. "We do monitor these things and we know there have been regular interactions," Ahmadi said.