U.S. envoy explores new approach on Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan told an envoy dispatched by President Barack Obama that it wants to be included in talks on any changes in U.S. efforts to defeat al-Qaida and Taliban militants wreaking havoc in its territory and in neighboring Afghanistan.

Pakistani officials gave no details on any policy discussions during Richard Holbrooke’s meetings Tuesday with the prime minister and other leaders, but Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi hailed his visit as a “new beginning” in ties between America and Pakistan.

“This administration has a different approach and starts on a different footing, that was a very pleasant change,” he said after meeting Holbrooke, who as White House envoy to the Balkans in the Kosovo conflict earned a reputation as a tough negotiator.

U.S. officials say Holbrooke’s first visit to the region as envoy is aimed at gathering information to help form the basis of a new policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan expected before April. After four days in Pakistan, he also is to visit Afghanistan and India. Holbrooke did not address the media.

Pakistan’s security forces are struggling to contain a surge in violence blamed on militants sheltering in the rugged northwest close to Afghanistan. U.S. and NATO officers say the insurgents based there are also behind many of the attacks in Afghanistan more than seven years after the fall of the Taliban.

The main supply line for Western troops passes through northwestern Pakistan and is increasingly under attack by militants, while Indian allegations — supported by the U.S. — that Pakistani terrorists carried out last year’s Mumbai attacks have chilled ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors, who have fought three wars in the last 60 years.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s civilian leadership is looking increasingly weak and appears unable to find a common voice on how to tackle the militant threat.