President Barack Obama. - AP Photo

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has spoken to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to discuss efforts to reconcile with elements of the Taliban, including his meeting last week with Pakistani and Iranian leaders.

The White House says Obama and Karzai on Monday discussed regional support for reconciliation in Afghanistan.

The conversation came in the wake of a three-day summit in Islamabad with Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The call also followed Karzai's assertion last week that the US, the Afghan government and the Taliban had held three-way talks aimed at moving toward a political settlement of the war.

Karzai on Saturday met with a Taliban-linked Pakistani cleric, Maulana Samiul Haq, in an effort to secure his help in bringing the militant movement's leadership into peace negotiations.

Opinion

Editorial

Digital growth
Updated 25 Apr, 2024

Digital growth

Democratising digital development will catalyse a rapid, if not immediate, improvement in human development indicators for the underserved segments of the Pakistani citizenry.
Nikah rights
25 Apr, 2024

Nikah rights

THE Supreme Court recently delivered a judgement championing the rights of women within a marriage. The ruling...
Campus crackdowns
25 Apr, 2024

Campus crackdowns

WHILE most Western governments have either been gladly facilitating Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, or meekly...
Ties with Tehran
Updated 24 Apr, 2024

Ties with Tehran

Tomorrow, if ties between Washington and Beijing nosedive, and the US asks Pakistan to reconsider CPEC, will we comply?
Working together
24 Apr, 2024

Working together

PAKISTAN’S democracy seems adrift, and no one understands this better than our politicians. The system has gone...
Farmers’ anxiety
24 Apr, 2024

Farmers’ anxiety

WHEAT prices in Punjab have plummeted far below the minimum support price owing to a bumper harvest, reckless...