Pak says no support for Afghan Taliban

Pakistan was the chief supporter of the Taliban regime which imposed a harsh brand of Islam on Afghanistan from 1996 until it was ousted in a US-led military operation after the September 11,2001 attacks.

8220;Friends can also change,8221; Qureshi told National Public Radio.

8220;There was a time when there was a Taliban government in Afghanistan and Pakistan felt comfortable with that. But today we do not want the Taliban to take over Afghanistan,8221; he said.

8220;What the American people need to understand is people in

Pakistan,democracy in Pakistan 8212; they are getting their act together,8221; he said.

He said Pakistan would only seek involvement in Afghanistan in accordance with the country8217;s wishes.

8220;Whatever we can do to achieve the objective of a peaceful,stable,friendly Afghanistan,we are going to do that,8221; he said.

Afghan and Western officials have long suspected that some of the Pakistani establishment,particularly the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence ISI spy agency,offer support to Afghan Taliban despite the government8217;s policy.

Kai Eide,the former UN envoy in Afghanistan,has said that Pakistan8217;s arrest of the Afghan Taliban8217;s number two a step hailed in Washington 8212; served to cut off secret dialogue aimed at reconciliation.

In a recent memoir,Abdul Salam Zaeef,the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad on September 11,said the ISI chief cried before him when Pakistan lent support to the United States and vowed 8220;you will not be alone in this jihad against America.8221;

Qureshi was in Washington for a first-of-a-kind 8220;strategic dialogue,8221; part of an effort by the United States to show it is interested in Pakistan beyond cooperation against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.