PM Gilani Says Pakistan Key To Any Afghan Peace Settlement

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani (right) with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Islamabad in March

Pakistan Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani says that reaching a peace settlement in neighboring Afghanistan will not be possible without Pakistan's help.

Critics accuse Pakistan of reluctance to hunt down Afghan militant factions operating from its territory. Some say Islamabad wants to use such groups as leverage in any future set up in Afghanistan.

Gilani told Pakistani television that "nothing can be done" without Pakistan.

Pakistan officially abandoned support for Afghanistan's Taliban movement after joining the U.S.-led counterterrorism efforts following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.

However, the Pentagon said on October 7 that some elements of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) had interactions with the insurgents that "may be seen as supporting terrorist groups rather than going after them."

compiled from Reuters reports