WASHINGTON, Oct 26: The United States said on Friday that, despite the reported execution by the Taliban of commander Abdul Haq, it would press ahead with efforts for the creation of a broad-based representative government in Afghanistan.

Commander Haq was said to have been on a “peace mission” within Afghanistan to persuade Afghan tribal leaders he knew to leave the Taliban and help in efforts to create a substitute administration, and his execution is seen in some quarters as setting back the movement to create an anti-Taliban alternative.

Haq was part of the Afghan coalition that had fought against the Soviet occupation in the 80s and was on close terms with many of the fighters who are now with the Taliban. It was hoped that he might be able to rally tribal chiefs and elders sitting on the fence to join the effort to dislodge the Taliban regime and put in place a new government.

Asked to comment on the news of Haq’s execution, the State Department said if the reports were true, it would be a loss, but pointed out that a number of other Afghan leaders were working for the same objective of the creation of an Afghanistan free of terrorism.

Neither the State Department nor the Pentagon has confirmed the news of Haq’s arrest or execution, pointing out that these were coming from Taliban sources.

The defence department said it had no reports that the US forces had made any attempt to rescue Haq after he was captured or that any US personnel had gone with him into Afghanistan.

A senior State Department official said that Haq stood for a peaceful Afghanistan free of terrorism, and the US-led coalition would push ahead in achieving that objective. It was now even more necessary for the Afghans to work together to end the Taliban regime and in establishing a representative administration in Kabul.

Reports published here over the past two days have been saying that the strategy by US and Pakistani intelligence agencies to splinter the Taliban was faltering, partly because of Pakistan’s change in policy that had left its operatives within Afghanistan without leverage.

A plausible post-Taliban scenario remains unclear. In testimony before the senate foreign relations committee on Thursday afternoon, secretary of state Colin Powell said that neither the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan, nor his special representative Lakhdar Brahimi, appeared to be in favour of putting in a “blue-helmeted” (UN) peace force in Afghanistan, but Mr Powell hoped that once the Taliban were gone and a broad-based government had taken their place, there would be greater international participation.

The secretary emphasized to the senate the need for a new government in Afghanistan, “one that represents all the people of Afghanistan and one that is not dominated by any single powerful neighbour, but instead is dominated by the will of the people of Afghanistan”.

Mr Powell said that his personal representative for Afghanistan, director of policy planning at the State Department Richard Haas, was working with Mr Brahimi, former king Zahir Shah and others to try to help Afghan leaders around the world find the proper model for a future Afghanistan.

But, he added, “we have got to do more than that. We also have to make sure that when the Taliban regime is gone, we remain committed to helping Afghanistan finally find a place in the world, by helping its people build a better life for themselves, by making sure they get the food aid and other aid they will need to start building decent lives for themselves and for their children.”

In a briefing for foreign correspondents, State Department deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said that the US was encouraging Afghan groups to work out the form of a new administration leading to a broad-based government.

Without directly commenting on the Peshawar meeting convened by Pir Syed Gilani, Mr Reeker welcomed efforts by Afghans to talk amongst themselves because, he said, it was the Afghans who were going to be the driving force in a new setup. The future of Afghanistan was important for the future of the region.

Mr Reeker described the UN role as crucial, but said there was no agreement with it on limiting airstrikes. “We do have intensive discussions on how to bring peace to Afghanistan. We continue to work with the UN.”

Discussions were also going on among the Six-plus-Two group of countries, and deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage was due to travel to Moscow on November 1 for a meeting of the joint US-Soviet anti-terrorism group.