The Taliban do not represent the popular will of the people in Afghanistan, a top Obama Administration official has said, a day after a former ISI chief told a US news network that the militant group represents the national resistance movement of that country.
"They (the Taliban) do not represent the popular will in Afghanistan and every poll, every survey – I'd particularly bring your attention to the BBC/ABC/ARD poll of earlier this year – shows that their support is in the single digits," Special US Representatives for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Mr Richard Holbrooke, told reporters at a news briefing.
"But entrenched, ruthless people have the ability to kill unarmed people who were coming back from a humanitarian mission. It's not hard to do. It just illustrates the nature of the enemy," he said in response to a question.
"I don't think in any way, shape, or form it shows that the people of Afghanistan support this; in fact, on the contrary," Mr Holbrooke said.
A day earlier, former ISI chief General Hamid Gul in an interview to the CNN claimed the Taliban should be recognised as a national resistance movement and the US should hold talks with its leader Mullah Omar for peace in the region.
"This (the Taliban) is a national resistance movement. It should be recognised as such. They are Mujahideen of Afghanistan, as they were during the occupation by Soviet Union of Afghanistan. I think they are gaining momentum, gaining strength by the day. This should be now understood properly," Gul told Fareed Zakaria in an interview.
Only Mullah Omar can guarantee that there would be no threat to the US from this part of the world, he said. "There is only one man who can give the guarantee that there will be no terrorism exported from Afghanistan. Neither Karzai nor somebody else, not even Pakistani government, nobody can give you the guarantee," Gul said.
"One man who can give the guarantee is Mullah Omar because he symbolises today the Afghan resistance. He has to be talked to. Don't talk to Karzai. He's a puppet," Gul said in response to a question when asked what advice he would give to Commander of the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus.