At the hard-line Islamic school that spawned a generation of Afghan Taliban leaders, the top cleric still lectures his students to go to Afghanistan to fight Americans. But he says he's willing to help bring insurgents to peace talks.
The offer by the influential "father of the Taliban" raises some hope for American attempts to find a negotiated end to the 10-year-old war not necessarily because he will indeed be brought in as a mediator, but more because it gives a sign that there is a willingness among the Taliban and their allies to talk, something that has been thrown in doubt by months of setbacks in efforts to start negotiations.
"There must be some way out," Maulana Sami-ul-Haq told The Associated Press. "A way out that can also give America a respectable exit. Bloodletting is not a solution." Speaking to AP, Haq said ongoing resistance to the US and its allies in Afghanistan was justified, and he said he and other Taliban supporters are deeply suspicious of the peace process. He said many militants believe that the US's moves for talks aim to weaken the insurgency by dividing it into different, competing factions.
Haq said the government or the army had not asked him to mediate, but that he would do if asked. "They will listen to me. We have a relation of respect and knowledge," he said of insurgent groups, pausing to sort through the invitations for his son's upcoming wedding. "But America has to come clean that it will not deceive the Taliban. The Taliban are very clever people. They understand all these deceptions."