European Union foreign policy chief Xavier Solana is urging Pakistan to not talk with al Qaeda -- a move being pondered by the country's new government.
Mr Solana, who is visiting Pakistan, said the group was "operating outside Pakistan's law and constitution".
But Mr Solana backed the government's initiatives to hold negotiations with Taleban militants from Pakistan to end the violence in the tribal areas.
On Tuesday, UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he supported Pakistan's efforts to talk to Islamist militants.
But Mr Miliband said talks should only be held with militants prepared to renounce violence. ...
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi reiterated his government's commitment to opening dialogue with militants - part of a wider strategy on the part of the new government to break with the strategies of President Pervez Musharraf.
"The government would want to give dialogue and reconciliation its utmost, a full chance. But on the other hand, if we feel that the spirit behind this initiative is not being met, well, other options are there," news agency Reuters quoted him as saying.
I would point out that Musharraf did make deals with militants in the Waziristans and it, ahem, didn't work out so well.
Today's development follows on this move yesterday - Pakistan Taleban praise release:
A spokesman for Taleban fighters in Pakistan has welcomed the release of a well-known militant leader.
On Monday night the authorities set free Maulana Sufi Mohammad, the founder of an outlawed Islamist group that has fought in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
He was released under an agreement to renounce violence and help restore peace in the north-west valley of Swat. ...
According to an official statement, the agreement commits the TNSM to renounce violence in the Swat valley where the army has been engaged in an intense struggle with militants.
Under one clause of the agreement, The TNSM declares that the killing of police, military or other government employees is "un-Islamic". ...
"We welcome his release, it is a positive development and augurs well for peace in the area," Taleban spokesman Maulvi Omar said.
The militants are also observing an unofficial ceasefire to facilitate talks.
But the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad says their terms for a lasting peace are tough.
They want President Pervez Musharraf to stand down and they are demanding that the government abandon its pro-American policy and implement Islamic law in the tribal areas along the Afghan border.
They are also committed to continuing their fight against Nato in Afghanistan.
Actually, the U.S. doesn't feel Pakistan has been all that pro-American. See this post -- Meet the new Pakistan terror report, same as the old Pakistan terror report.
And here's this from the April 20 NYT:
American commanders in Afghanistan have in recent months urged a widening of the war that could include American attacks on indigenous Pakistani militants in the tribal areas inside Pakistan, according to United States officials.
The requests have been rebuffed for now, the officials said, after deliberations in Washington among senior Bush administration officials who fear that attacking Pakistani radicals may anger Pakistan’s new government, which is negotiating with the militants, and destabilize an already fragile security situation.
American commanders would prefer that Pakistani forces attack the militants, but Pakistani military operations in the tribal areas have slowed recently to avoid upsetting the negotiations.
Pakistan’s government has given the Central Intelligence Agency limited authority to kill Arab and other foreign operatives in the tribal areas, using remotely piloted Predator aircraft. But administration officials say the Pakistani government has put far greater restrictions on American operations against indigenous Pakistani militant groups, including one thought to have been behind the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
Despite everything, the U.S. State Dept. does approve of the negotations, according to this AP story on NYT:
''You have to talk to people,'' said Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher. ''The Pakistani government is engaged in discussion designed to stop violence. It's got to be done in a way that produces results, that reduces violence.''
Boucher, who overseas U.S. policy on Pakistan and 11 other countries, told reporters ''it's the outcome that matters.''
However, the White House saw things a bit differently:
... Press Secretary Dana Perino said, ''We have been concerned about these types of approaches, because we don't think they work.''
''What we encourage them to do,'' Perino said, ''is to continue to fight against the terrorists and to not disrupt any security or military operations that are ongoing in order to help prevent a safe haven for terrorists there.''
Here's a question: What if domestic peace comes at the price of providing a safe haven for terrorists in the tribal areas of Pakistan. What will Pakistan's government do?