Six months to make peace with Taliban, say allies

The leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan used a British summit on Monday to set an optimistic target of six months to reach a peace deal with the Taliban - the first time such a time frame has been imposed.

Speaking after meeting David Cameron, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and Pakistan's Asif Ali Zardari committed to an all-out bid for reconciliation with the insurgents, despite years of frustration.

With the deadline for the withdrawal of Nato troops looming at the end of 2014, they promised to open a long-promised Afghan office in Qatar and urged the Taliban to do the same, in order for talks to take place.

"All sides agreed on the urgency of this work and committed themselves to take all necessary measures to achieve the goal of a peace settlement over the next six months," said a statement released by Downing Street.

"The end result should be one in which all Afghans can participate peacefully in the country's political future."

The meeting at Chequers - the Prime Minister's official country residence - was the third held at the Prime Minister's insistence as Western allies search for a deal that will prevent civil war breaking out after US, British and other Nato troops finally leave Afganistan.

For the first time, the three leaders were joined by foreign ministers, chiefs of defence staff, intelligence chiefs and the chairman of the Afghan High Peace Council, which was created to lead negotiations with the Taliban.

The fundamentalist militia ruled the country for five years before being overthrown by a US-backed intervention in retaliation for refusing to hand over Osama bin Laden after he launched the September 11, 2001 attacks.

A British official said the mood at this gathering was more positive than on previous occasions.

"There is a growing sense that they can work with this chink of a possibility. We don't underestimate how much there is to do and we recognise it will be tough but there was a good atmosphere today," said the official.

The meeting ended with an agreement that the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan would meet later in the month. Mullah Mohammed Omar, the Taliban's reclusive Pakistan-based leader, raised hopes of a peace deal late last year when he offered to share power and extended an olive branch to the country's non-Pashtun ethnic groups.

Optimism rose further when Karzai announced during a visit to Washington last month that the Taliban office in Qatar was about to open.

However, the office has yet to open and the discreet talks that have taken place have been highly confused because of divisions within the Taliban. Diplomats have said that members of the Taliban are in contact with representatives of dozens of different countries. Zabiullah Mujah, who is regarded as a major Taliban spokesman, has refused even to recognise the High Peace Council.

Douglas Alexander, Britain's shadow foreign secretary, said he feared that steadfast efforts at reconciliation had probably come too late.

"We welcome any renewed diplomatic focus on agreeing a durable settlement in Afghanistan, but we regret that these diplomatic efforts have not been forthcoming at a much earlier stage," he said.

"The West has diminishing control over the Afghan endgame, which risks leaving our troops increasingly exposed. The sacrifice they have made must be matched even at this late hour by a real and sustained effort to achieve a lasting political settlement that ensures Afghanistan does not again threaten our security."