Haqqanis to follow Taliban on Afghan peace talks

ISLAMABAD: The Haqqani network, would take part in peace talks with the Kabul government and the United States only if the Taliban did, its leader Sirajuddin Haqqani told Reuters on Saturday.

Sirajuddin said the group had rejected several peace gestures from the United States and President Hamid Karzai's government in the past because they were an attempt to "create divisions" between militant groups.

Any further efforts to do so would fail, added Sirajuddin, who is described by US forces in Afghanistan as one of their most lethal enemies. The United States has posted a bounty of up to $5 million for him.

"They offered us very important positions but we rejected and told them they would not succeed in their nefarious designs. They wanted to divide us," said Sirajuddin.

"We would support whatever solution our Shura members suggest for the future of Afghanistan," he said, referring to the Afghan Taliban leadership.

The Haqqani group no longer has sanctuaries in Pakistan, and instead felt secure inside Afghanistan, said Sirajuddin in a telephone interview from an undisclosed location.

"Gone are the days when we were hiding in the mountains along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Now we consider ourselves more secure in Afghanistan besides the Afghan people. Senior military and police officials are with us," he said.

"There are sincere people in the Afghan government who are loyal to the Taliban as they know our goal is the liberation of our homeland from the clutches of occupying forces."

HIGH ON THE US HIT LIST

US officials, including Panetta, suspect militants from the Haqqani network were behind Tuesday's rocket attack on the US embassy compound in Kabul, as well as a recent truck bomb that wounded 77 members of the American forces.

US officials have played down the significance of Tuesday's attack on Kabul's diplomatic enclave, which showered rockets on Western embassies in a show of insurgent strength.

It was the longest and most audacious militant attack on the Afghan capital in the decade since the Taliban was ousted from power and a stark reminder of insurgents' reach as Western forces start to return home.

Five police and 11 civilians, including children, were killed and 19 people wounded in the multi-pronged attacks, which included three suicide bombings.

Asked if the Haqqani network was behind the assault, Sirajuddin said:

"For some reasons, I would not like to claim that fighters of our group had carried out the recent attack on US embassy and NATO headquarters. Our central leadership, particularly senior members of the Shura, suggested I should keep quiet in future if the US and its allies suffer in future."

While Jalaluddin is still revered by militants, ill health forced him to pass on leadership of the group to Sirajuddin, who is seen as far more ruthless.

Asked whether there are 10,000 Haqqani fighters as some media reports have suggested, Sirajuddin laughed and said: "That figure is actually less than the actual number."

Copyright Reuters, 2011