November 8, 2003	Saturday	Ramazan 12, 1424

WASHINGTON, Nov 7: The recent release of Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, foreign minister in the Taliban government, seems to be part of a strategy to recruit elements of the erstwhile government into the US-backed administration of Afghan President Hamid Karzai, diplomatic sources told Dawn on Thursday.

Several Afghan, Pakistani and US officials said the Karzai government had been negotiating with Mr Muttawakil to entice elements of the Taliban into joining the government.

Such a support, the officials said, was necessary to enable the Karzai government to deal with widespread security problems it faces in the Pakhtoon-dominated areas of Afghanistan.

Mr Muttawakil was reportedly handed over to Afghan authorities last week after more than 18 months in US custody.

“He’s free,” Haroon Amin, a spokesman for the Afghan embassy in Washington, said.

Mr Amin said the talks with Mr Muttawakil, brokered by Kandahar Governor Mohammed Yusef Pashtun, were still at an early stage.

“Various posts (in the government) have been proposed to him... and he has agreed to work with us,” he said, adding that the talks were still in progress.

Diplomatic sources said Mr Muttawakil’s release was part of a two-pronged strategy to force Pakistan to pressure some elements of its former Taliban allies — those thought to be moderate — into joining the Karzai government. The other part, he added, was the so-called Pakhtoonistan card.

President Karzai recently reached out to Pakhtoon nationalists in Pakistan, and invited them to Kabul. The move apparently is designed to send a message to Pakistan: “We have a card that we can use against you and will use against you unless you strengthen the Afghan government,” the sources said.