Afghan govt will talk to Taliban, not Al Qaeda: Karzai

The Afghanistan government will engage with Taliban elements which are not part of the Al Qaeda network as it continues its military campaign against extremism and terrorism, President Hamid Karzai said on Wednesday.

"We believe that while we are continuing our campaign against extremism and terrorist networks, the Al Qaeda and its associates, we will also seek means other than a military campaign to bring stability to Afghanistan and to Pakistan by extension and the region," Karzai said.

Karzai was responding to a question on his government's efforts to hold talks with the Taliban during a joint news conference with his Pakistani counterpart Asif Ali Zardari following their talks. He said the Afghan government "will engage with those Taliban who are not part of the Al Qaeda or any other terrorist network and will abide by the Afghan constitution and the gains that our nation has achieved in the past 10 years".

This includes 'sons of the soil' and militants who have 'no ideological enmity' with the Afghan government and would be willing to engage in a dialogue, he added. At the same time, Karzai said his government was trying to seek all means to defeat the Taliban who were not 'reconcilable'.

Zardari said Pakistan stood against terrorism and was part of the solution. Its democratic government was not part of the problem, he added.