NEW YORK, Feb 16 — The US and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal, in a move that could bolster US-led efforts to convene fully fledged peace talks within months.

Giant portraits along a road in Islamabad, Pakistan, February 15, 2012, ahead of a two-day three-nation summit, security key among the issues. From left are Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari. — Reuters pic

But the Journal today quoted Karzai as saying the Taliban were “definitively” interested in a peace settlement to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan, and that all three sides were now involved in discussions.

“People in Afghanistan want peace, including the Taliban,” the Journal quoted Karzai as saying in an interview conducted yesterday in the Afghan capital. “They’re also people like we all are. They have families, they have relatives, they have children, they are suffering a tough time.

“There have been contacts between the US government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban.”

The newspaper said Karzai had declined to specify where the talks had been held, or go into detail, saying he feared this could damage the process.

Karzai’s comments were published as he prepares to meet the leaders of neighbouring Pakistan and Iran in Islamabad today for a summit set to focus on security issues, including the Taliban insurgency and support for it from within Pakistan.

Washington wants to accelerate the fragile talks with the Taliban so it can announce serious peace negotiations at a NATO summit in May, officials say, in what would be a welcome bright spot in Western efforts to end the war in Afghanistan.

The United States hopes it can declare a start to authentic political negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban at the May 20-21 summit in Chicago, after a year of initial, uncertain contacts with militant representatives.

It would be a needed victory for the White House and its NATO partners in Afghanistan as they struggle to contain a resilient insurgency and train a local army while moving to bring their troops home over the next three years. — Reuters