KARACHI, March 8: Afghan militant Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has said his forces have ended cooperation with the Taliban and suggested that he is open to talks with embattled President Hamid Karzai.

In a video response to questions submitted by AP, Hekmatyar also recounted how US forces nearly caught him on two occasions but he got away.

Hekmatyar, speaking in front of a plain white wall at an undisclosed location, indicated that his group contacted Taliban leaders some time in 2003 and agreed to wage a joint jihad against American troops.

“The jihad went into high gear but later it gradually went down as certain elements among the Taliban rejected the idea of a joint struggle against the aggressor,” Hekmatyar said.

He said his forces were now mounting only restricted operations, partly because of a lack of resources.

Still, Hekmatyar, who once served as the Afghan prime minister, insisted he had a large pool of fighters who could sustain a long struggle.—AP