Karzai Seeks Peace Talks With Pakistan

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Saturday he is seeking peace talks with Pakistan—saying that country, not the Taliban, is key to ending the insurgency. Karzai’s comments came the same day that Afghanistan’s intelligence service said a Taliban group in Quetta, Pakistan, had planned the assassination of former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani. Karzai said he believes the enemy has “sanctuaries and operating places” in Pakistan, and hinted that Taliban leader Mullah Omar could be in that country. The comments come just a week after retiring Adm. Mike Mullen said the Haqqani network, which carried out a number of high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, is a “veritable arm” of Pakistan’s intelligence—but the U.S. has since sought to distance itself from those comments.