WASHINGTON, Oct 11: Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed on Monday that he was holding unofficial talks with the Taliban “for quite some time” and was willing also to hold formal talks with senior Taliban leaders as soon as possible. In an interview to CNN's Larry King, Mr Karzai made a peace gesture to Islamabad as well, saying that he would not talk to those who were a threat to Afghanistan, the United States or “to our neighbours in Pakistan”.

In another note that would resonate in Islamabad too, he hoped that the US would not abandon Afghanistan as it did after Soviet pullout in 1989. “We have been talking to the Taliban as countryman to countryman, talk in that manner,” Mr Karzai said when Larry King asked about media reports of “secret high-level talks” between the two sides.

“Not as a regular official contact with the Taliban with a fixed address but rather unofficial personal contacts have been going on for quite some time,” he said in a release of excerpts from the interview.

US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, however, warned not to read too much into Mr Karzai's confirmation of his contacts with the Taliban. “The facts are, as President Karzai stated … quite clear there: that they've been in contact with the Taliban on a continuing basis,” said Mr Holbrooke. The United States, he said, was not involved in those talks but “we support them provided they follow the 'red lines' that are absolutely critical because we have a strategic interest here”, he added.

He said the 'red lines' are: “That anyone deciding to rejoin the political system in Afghanistan has to renounce Al Qaeda, lay down their arms and participate in the constitution with particular attention to role of minorities and women. “If people do that, there's room for them,” he said. — Anwar Iqbal