Efforts by Pakistan to install its proxies in a future government in Kabul are being viewed with skepticism and unease in Washington.

These efforts are being led by Pakistan's army chief Gen Ashfaq Kiyani and director of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency Lt Gen Shuja Pasha. The two recently facilitated a meeting between Hamid Karzai, Afghan President and Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the Al-Qaida-affiliated Haqqani network, according to an Al-Jazeera report over the weekend.

The Obama administration says it will only consider dealing with those groups that stop violence, support the Afghan Constitution and renounce the Al-Qaida. The US officials say the Haqqani network does not pass this test and describe the prospect of negotiations between Karzai and Haqqani as disturbing. Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omar, said reports of a Karzai-Haqqani meeting were baseless.Much like the Taliban, the Haqqani network continues to target the US troops in Afghanistan. The US officials believe the ISI and the Pakistani military provide support to the Haqqani network.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to freely discuss intelligence matters, said the US and Pakistani officials share a "regular, robust and candid" dialogue, including when differences arise. "Everyone's eyes are wide open, of course, to the complexities of the Pakistanis' historical relationships with certain players in the region," the official added referring to anti-India militant groups based in Pakistan.

“Peeling away lower level fighters probably isn't a bad idea, but the Haqqani leadership sure has a hell of a lot to answer for," the US official said, adding, “The reality is that the Haqqanis have American blood on their hands. They routinely attack coalition forces in Afghanistan and are constantly plotting brutal acts of terror.”

Pakistan's support for the Haqqani network and the Taliban is cause for much frustration among the US and Afghan officials. They see in Pakistan's recent actions proof that the US ally continues to support these groups and is seeking to secure spots for their pro-Pakistan leaders in a future Kabul government.Abdullah Abdullah, a former Foreign Minister in Karzai's first Cabinet, in a phone interview from Afghanistan described Pakistan's actions as suspicious. "The very fact that (the terrorists) trust Pakistan as a mediator is proof that Pakistan is still helping these Al-Qaida-affiliated groups," Abdullah said.

Over the weekend, President Barack Obama said these negotiations between the Afghan government and terrorist organisations should be viewed with "skepticism, but also openness."

Abdullah, who challenged Karzai in the presidential elections in August, described Karzai's outreach to terrorists as detrimental to the future of Afghanistan.

Rather than reaching out to the "enemies of the people of Afghanistan," Abdullah said Karzai should reach out to the Afghan people. "These terrorist groups are deeply involved with the Al-Qaida and behind most of the massacres of civilians. They will not make peace," he added.

Pakistan's actions are driven by a fear of encirclement by India and are a manifestation of the proxy war being waged with its longtime rival in Afghanistan, according to the former US officials and analysts.

Shuja Nawaz, director of the South Asia Centre at the Atlantic Council, said Pakistan’s primary aim was to ensure that no anti-Pakistan group was in power in Kabul. "A neutral government probably would also be acceptable," he said.

President Ram Baran Yadav on Thursday called the political parties represented in the Constituent Assembly to form a consensus government by July 7, an official at the President’s office said.

Just a day after Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal tendered his resignation from the post, President Yadav approved it and sent a letter to the Parliament Secretariat on Thursday morning asking political parties to form a consensus government in accordance with the Article 38 (1) of the Interim Constitution.

If the political parties failed to forge understanding to form a consensus government, a priority mandated by the Interim Constitution, then President Yadav will invite the parties to take initiative for the formation of the government by producing simple majority in the 601-member parliament.

Veteran communist leader from the CPN-UML Madhav Kumar Nepal had resigned from 13-month old government on Wednesday, blaming the main opposition, United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, for non-cooperation and obstruction during his tenure.

Meanwhile, major political parties have intensified internal as well as external parleys over the formation of new government. Despite President Yadav's call for the formation of national consensus government, chance of such government is very unlikely to the date due to surfaced crisis of confidence among the major political parties.

The UCPN-Maoists, the single largest party in the parliament, is the first claimant to stake the leadership of the new government. The Maoists Standing Committee meeting held on Thursday morning formed a panel led by party chairman Pushpa Kamal, alias Prachanda, to start dialogue with other parties to form the national unity government under its leadership.

Although some Maoist leaders are saying that chairman Dahal is the undisputed prime ministerial candidate, the Maoist party is yet to float the name of leader formally to lead the new government.

But other political parties mainly the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML and Madhesh-based parties are not ready to accept the Maoists-led government unless the former rebels transform itself as civilian party and ensure peace and constitution drafting process by implementing the past pacts and understandings related to the peace process.

Meanwhile, a meeting of the CPN-UML Standing Committee decided to take initiative for the formation of national unity government under its leadership. 

Islamabad: The Afghan Taliban has said it would now launch a “new war strategy” in which they will target Indians, who are working in various NGOs and other organisations in the country. “The operation commanders of the Islamic Emirate (as Taliban movement calls itself) are going to meet shortly to finalise a new war strategy, under which the foreigners working on their national agendas, particularly Indians, will be targeted,” The News quoted a Taliban commander Qari Ziaur Rehman as saying.“Indians are on top among the foreigners, who are working on hidden agenda on the pretext of carrying out development activities,” he added. Rehman said another meeting of the operation commanders would be convened before the holy month of Ramazan to devise the new strategy.

“Until now, the Taliban have been devising their own strategy in the different areas of the country, but now onwards a joint war strategy will be adopted across the country,” he added.— ANI

Melbourne, July 1
Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, who was wrongly accused of involvement in a botched 2007 UK terror attack, today sued the Australian government for unlawful arrest and abuse of power and launched defamation proceedings against former Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews.

Haneef’s lawyer Maurice Blackburn said the suit was lodged on behalf of Haneef in the Brisbane Supreme Court. The doctor’s legal team also launched defamation proceedings against the then John Howard government’s Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews, AAP reported. — PTI

Melbourne, July 1
Indian-origin doctor Jayant Patel, dubbed as “Dr Death”, was today sentenced to seven years in jail after being convicted by an Australian court of manslaughter that led to the death of three patients.

The 60-year-old, now a US citizen, was sentenced to seven years for each case of manslaughter and three years for grievous bodily harm, to be served concurrently. The sentence was handed out Justice John Byrne of the Queensland state's supreme court in Brisbane. Queensland law allows prisoners to apply for parole after they serve 50 per cent of their sentence.

Earlier Prosecution had asked the jury to sentence Patel to at least 10 years in jail for the manslaughter of three patients at Bundaberg's Base Hospital between 2003 and 2005. Prosecutor Ross Martin said Patel had a history of professional misconduct charges in the US dating back to 1982 and asked for a sentence of at least 10 years, less time Patel served in the US awaiting extradition. — PTI