KABUL, Nov 11: Pakistan hopes to persuade Afghan militant groups, including the Haqqani network, to pursue peace but worries resistance from political factions opposed to the Taliban could undermine reconciliation efforts, Islamabad’s ambassador has said.

Mohammad Sadiq, speaking in an interview, also suggested US efforts would be better directed at engaging the militant groups — rather than attempting to defeat them by launching military strikes against their leaders.

Mr Sadiq was speaking ahead of an expected visit to Pakistan by an Afghan peace council due to give Islamabad a roadmap of how it wanted Pakistan to help end the war with the Taliban, now in its 11th year.

“Afghans are much more united in wanting to join the reconciliation process than they were two years ago,” he said. “But still there are very important people who fought against the Taliban and are not still ready to talk and negotiate with the Taliban. And we are working with them.”

Ambassador Sadiq was referring to former members of the Northern Alliance, which toppled the Taliban in 2001 with US backing.

Some now occupy government positions or are in the opposition.

President Hamid Karzai set up a High Peace Council comprised of members of diverse Afghan ethnic and political groups to try to ease mistrust between the Taliban and its traditional enemies and forge a peace deal.

The task has gained urgency as most Nato combat troops prepare to withdraw at the end of 2014 and hand over security to Afghan government forces.

Afghanistan’s government has failed to secure direct talks with the Taliban and no significant progress is expected before 2014, a senior Afghan official closely involved with reconciliation efforts said.

Afghan officials have often seen Pakistan as a reluctant partner in attempts to broker talks, saying Islamabad is long on promises and short on action.

Kabul accuses Pakistan’s spy agency of using groups like the Haqqani network as proxies to counter the influence of India in Afghanistan.

Islamabad denies the allegations.

“The prime minister of Pakistan had appealed to all insurgent groups to engage in negotiations,” said Mr Sadiq. “We will encourage all insurgents. We will encourage the entire armed opposition of Afghanistan to participate in peace negotiations with the Afghan government.”

The Haqqani faction is seen as the most dangerous Afghan militant group, blamed for high-profile attacks in Kabul and other cities.

Pakistan has resisted US pressure to pursue the Haqqanis, arguing that negotiations stand a better chance of delivering stability.

“I think normally with insurgents one thing is very clear — that deaths have not weakened them because they replace commanders very quickly. They’re able to replace them in a day or so,” said Mr Sadiq, suggesting the Americans should have learned from the Russian experience in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

“The Soviets killed one million, two million people. It didn’t weaken the insurgency against them.”

Afghanistan is known to want access to the Taliban leaders belonging to the so-called Quetta Shura, an issue the peace council is likely to raise.

An official with the council said it would also be pushing Islamabad to repatriate Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s former second in command, in detention in Pakistan.

Afghan officials believe Mullah Baradar could serve as an effective conduit for negotiations with the Taliban leaders if sent to Kabul. An official said that Pakistan had promised to hand over Mullah Baradar in September.

Pakistan says no Taliban leaders are in Quetta.

Asked what Pakistan would be willing to do to push the struggling reconciliation process forward, Mr Sadiq said: “Expectations should be reasonable about what we can do because Pakistan and Taliban are not one party. We don’t control them, we don’t give them weapons, we do not give money to them.”

The envoy said that any government that runs Afghanistan should include all ethnic groups and parties to preclude any repeat of past turmoil.—Reuters