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ISLAMABAD : Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif is willing to broker talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, his spokesman said Tuesday, amid reports that Sharif is already playing a key role.
The offer came after a Pakistani newspaper reported that Sharif, in conjunction with Saudi Arabia, is helping to seek a settlement between the hardline Taliban and the US-backed regime of President Hamid Karzai.
Pakistan backed the Taliban during Sharif's second spell in power from 1997 to 1999. He also has strong ties to Saudi Arabia, having spent seven years in exile there until his return to Pakistan last year.
Spokesman Siddiqul Farooq confirmed that Sharif had spent the last two weeks in Saudi Arabia for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Fitr, but told AFP that he could not immediately comment on the report.
"But Nawaz Sharif is a credible leader of Pakistan and he has dealt with Taliban wisely during his government in the past. He would be more than happy to play a role in national and international peace," Farooq said.
"I cannot say whether he has established any contact with Taliban and the Afghan government with Saudi Arabia's blessings."
The Afghanistan government on Monday denied a US media report that a first round of negotiations took place in Saudi Arabia last month. Karzai has called for peace talks with the Taliban.
The Taliban were toppled in a US-led invasion after failing to hand over top leaders of Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
Sharif won plaudits earlier this year for his leading role in opposing President Pervez Musharraf, who ousted him in 1999. Sharif pulled his party out of Pakistan's ruling coalition in August.
But his two periods in government during the 1990s were more controversial.
Under him, Pakistan was one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban, along with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. Pakistani intelligence also provided support to the Taliban while he was in power.
He also sought to introduce Islamic Sharia law in the South Asian nation.
- AFP/ms
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