Amrullah Saleh

Pakistan: 'We are part of the solution in Afghanistan'

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani couldn't have been more blunt when he said a few weeks ago that: "Nothing can happen in Afghan peace talks with the Taliban without us. We are part of the solution. We are not part of the problem."

For some in Afghanistan, however, Pakistan is a part of the problem – blocking any attempt to find a political solution to the conflict that doesn't secure its strategic interests at home.

Last February, I was in Kabul when news of the arrest of the Taliban's Mullah Brader emerged. Second-in-command only to the Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader Mullah Omar, his capture in the Pakistani city of Karachi was described as a success.

In Afghanistan, government sources told us that it was a setback to peace efforts.

Mullah Brader was reportedly involved in secret negotiations with Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president, albeit without Pakistan’s consent. His arrest was a clear message from Islamabad.