WASHINGTON, Oct 25: The United States had tried to discourage Pakistan from letting this week’s gathering of Afghan tribal leaders be held in Peshawar and pinned greater hopes on a meeting being planned in Istanbul.

In his testimony on the US anti-terrorism campaign and the military operation in Afghanistan before the House of Representatives’ international relations committee on Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States had made the point with Pakistani officials that it might not be wise to hold a meeting in Pakistan.

He noted that preparations were going on for a meeting in Turkey of other opposition figures, including those from the Northern Alliance, which was apparently not represented at the Peshawar gathering.

The alliance’s absence may be one reason for Washington’s reservations about the Peshawar meeting, which was convened by Pir Sayed Ahmad Gilani, plus the fact that although Pir Gilani is known to back ex-king Zahir Shah, none of the king’s followers attended the Frontier conclave. A key Zahir Shah supporter in Quetta is quoted in newspaper reports here as characterizing the Peshawar meeting as full of ‘fundamentalists and terrorists’ and accusing Pir Gilani of using the king’s name for his own purposes.

Secretary Powell, while ruling out the possibility of any one country seeking to dictate the composition of a post-Taliban government in Kabul, nevertheless acknowledged that Pakistan had more than a passing interest in the matter because of its proximity to Afghanistan.

However, American doubts about the utility of the Peshawar meeting could reflect differing perspectives and indicate that an agreement among key players on who exactly replaces the Taliban is still proving elusive. “There’s a lot going on and we’re trying to get it all corralled,” Mr Powell had told the House on Wednesday.

Pakistan obviously has to work harder to convince the US and other interested countries that its interest in the formation of a broad-based administration in Kabul, representing all factions of Afghan society, is an entirely altruistic.

A Zahir Shah envoy, Amin Arslan, is said to be still in Pakistan, conducting negotiations with both officials and Afghan exile groups. He was reported to have agreed to attend the Peshawar meeting, but then abstained from doing so.

Iran has not clearly reacted to the efforts underway to cobble together a new administration in Kabul, but US officials are believed to be in contact with Tehran and with leaders in Russia and Central Asia, exploring all opportunities.

The Washington Post reported on Thursday that covert efforts by the US and Pakistan to win support from Pashtun leaders in southern and eastern Afghanistan were failing. Part of the reason is stated to be the continuing US bombing, which even anti-Taliban tribal and religious leaders are beginning to view as “an assault against the Afghan nation rather than the Taliban and terrorism”.