WASHINGTON, Oct 5: The peace deal between Nato and tribal elders in Afghanistan vindicates Pakistan’s position that there is a need for a negotiated settlement to this dispute, says Ambassador Mehmood Ali Durrani.

Earlier this week, British NATO troops in Afghanistan announced reaching an agreement with Afghan tribal elders aimed at ending Taliban attacks in a southern district where six British soldiers have been killed since August.

Under the agreement reached in the small town of Musa Qala in Helmand province British troops will not launch offensives. In return, the elders will press the Taliban to stop attacks.

Mr Durrani, Pakistan’s envoy in the US, said the deal endorses a comprehensive strategy Pakistan launched last month when it signed a similar agreement with tribal elders in the North Waziristan tribal agency.

Initially, the Afghan government and the US media criticised the Waziristan deal, claiming that it would free Taliban sympathisers in Pakistan’s tribal areas for carrying out attacks inside Afghanistan.

“What we launched in North Waziristan was comprehensive strategy to deal with this problem,” said Ambassador Durrani. “We did not provide a license to pro-Taliban elements to move freely,” as some media reports claimed.

Mr Durrani also rejected some US media reports that Pakistan was withdrawing troops from the tribal area. “We are against the process of Talibanisation. So we cannot give them a free hand,” he said.

Addressing an iftar he hosted for Washington-based Pakistani journalists, Ambassador Durrani said that United States has also helped Pakistan in reaching the peace deal with tribal elders.

He said that during his recent visit to Washington, President Musharraf held two meetings with President Bush and availed these opportunities to elucidate Pakistan’s position on the North Waziristan deal.