Pak sway over Taliban may diminish by Qatar office: Report

Pakistan's sway over Taliban could diminish with the opening of the militant group's first ever political office in Qatar, US media reports said, as Washington stressed that the Afghan insurgents should renounce violence and snap ties with al-Qaeda.

The opening of the political office in the Persian Gulf nation could ensure that Pakistan's influence is lessened over future peace talks between the militant group and American and Afghan officials, New York Times said.

The Times said the US and its allies have been focusing on establishing a trustworthy channel for negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban.

The comments from the paper quoting officials came as White House spokesperson Jay Carney said, "We welcome any step along the road...of the Afghan-led process towards reconciliation," in the first public American gesture towards peace talks.

Carney told reporters that President Barack Obama, "has made clear that we would support and participate in Afghan led reconciliation effort".

"We've always said that Taliban reconciliation would come only on the condition of breaking from al-Qaeda, abandoning violence and abiding by the Afghan Constitution," the spokesperson said.

NYT said, the push for having an address for talks with the Taliban began early last year when American and German negotiators managed to contact a man believed to be a legitimate representative of Taliban's reclusive leader Mullah Muhammad Omar.

The final announcement came after 10 months of "on-again, off-again talks with the man Tayeb Agha", who was a former secretary to Mullah Omar.

The NYT report said the talks with Agha were shrouded in secrecy to protect him and other Taliban intermediaries.

"The biggest concern was that Pakistan, where most of the Taliban's leadership is believed to reside, would obstruct any talks in which it did not play a direct role," the report said.

It added that Afghan and American officials have "long feared that Pakistan aimed to use the peace process, which it says it supports, as a way to solidify a dominant position in Afghanistan. The Qatar office is seen as a way of lessening Pakistani influence over the talks.

"The Taliban's decision to open the political office is being seen as a first major public sign that they may be ready for formal talks with the American-led coalition in Afghanistan," the report added.

It remains unclear as to when the Qatar office would be opened.

Other media reports quoting Taliban's purported website 'Voice of Jihad' said, one of the first demands from the group would be release of Taliban inmates held at US run detention facility at Guantanamo Bay.

NYT said, "The Taliban are viewed as unlikely to cede significant ground at a time when NATO has begun to withdraw troops and intends to end combat operations here in less than three years.

Another uncertainty is the role of Pakistan, which provides safe haven to Taliban leaders and has undermined past efforts at reconciliation talks that it sees as jeopardising its interests."

The opening of an office in Qatar is aimed at giving Afghan and Western peace negotiators an "address" where they can openly contact legitimate Taliban intermediaries.

The move assumes significance in the wake of an embarrassing incident in November 2010, in which an impostor had fooled Western officials into believing he was a Taliban representative and then had disappeared with hundreds of thousands of dollars used to woo him.