Miliband backs talks with militants
By Our Diplomatic Correspondent

ISLAMABAD—Foreign Secretary David Miliband on Monday backed the new Pakistani government’s talks with militants, but said there should only be reconciliation with those who renounce violence. Miliband arrived Sunday for a two-day official visit to Pakistan and has met President Pervez Musharraf, new premier Yousaf Raza Gilani and top officials in North West Frontier Province bordering Afghanistan.
Britain supports “reconciliation with those who are willing to reconcile,” Miliband told reporters at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Peace agreements with pro-Taliban militants in tribal areas have failed in the past and invited criticism from US officials that the deals allowed Al-Qaeda to regroup in the region.
Miliband said he backed Pakistan’s “multi-pronged” strategy to deal with militancy through political and economic means as well as security measures, adding that non-violence should be the cornerstone of reconciliation. Pakistan’s new ruling coalition, headed by the party of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto, defeated Musharraf’s allies in elections in February and has since slammed the president’s reliance on the army to tackle the insurgents. But Miliband added: “Reconciliation does not mean creating safe space for terrorists. “Reconciliation means dividing those ideologically committed to wage a war against this country or other countries, and those able to play by non-violent constitutional rules. It is about building stability and prosperity,” he said.
Miliband said there was “clear evidence” of an Al-Qaeda presence in the rugged border areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan and called for greater cooperation among Pakistani, Afghan and coalition forces. Britain is a major provider of development aid for Pakistan.
Gilani told Miliband during their meeting that the “new democratic government would adopt a multi-pronged strategy as the past strategy has failed to produce the desired results,” a statement from the premier’s office said. “The Prime Minister said that he had already announced initiation of a dialogue with those who abandoned violence and laid down their arms,” it said.
Meanwhile, Musharraf said Pakistan “would continue to confront extremism and terrorism in all its forms through a broad-based approach combining military, political and economic strategies,” a statement issued by the foreign ministry said. During his visit on Sunday to Peshawar, the main city in northwest Pakistan, Miliband said these areas had links with previous terrorist incidents in Britain. At least two of the suicide bombers involved in the July 2005 attacks on London had previously visited Pakistan’s tribal belt.
President Pervez Musharraf Monday said Pakistan would continue to confront extremism and terrorism in all its forms, through a broad-based approach combining military, political and economic strategies.The President was talking to British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who praised Pakistan’s pivotal role in the fight against extremism and terrorism and expressed full support for its broad strategy to confront this menace.