Karzai meets with Taliban-linked cleric

ISLAMABAD -- The Afghan president met with a Pakistani cleric linked to Taliban insurgents Saturday, marking the first public contact between an Afghan official and members of the Afghan Taliban's support network in Pakistan. It's part of Afghanistan's bid to bring the militant movement to the negotiating table.

The meeting between President Hamid Karzai and the cleric was held in Islamabad, said the cleric and Afghan officials, and shows how far the Afghan president is willing to go to open contact with the insurgent leaders.

The Taliban leaders are widely believed to be based in Pakistan with some level of protection by the country's security forces.

The United States and Afghanistan increasingly see negotiating with the Taliban as the only way to end the more than 10 years of warfare in Afghanistan and allow U.S. troops to leave the country without it falling further into chaos.

Speaking to The Associated Press, the cleric, Maulana Samiul Haq, said Karzai asked for his help in bringing the militant movement's leadership into peace negotiations and to help establish contacts with the Taliban leadership. -- AP