SM: "...a positive
development..."
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Length: 1:43
LARGE (20.0 MB)
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SMALL (2.1 MB)
A pre-recorded clip updating the reaction to the
Pakistan piece, including the response from Special
Envoy Richard Holbrooke.
BETTY
NGUYEN: Well, listen to this little bit of news -- an
offer from Pakistan to help the U.S. negotiate with
the Taliban.
HOLMES: Yes. A top military officer says Pakistan can
set up direct talks with the top Taliban leader in
Afghanistan. Our Michael Ware has more on this story
from Baghdad, including reaction from U.S. officials.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., Betty, the
Obama administration has expressed its first response
to the Pakistan military's offer to help broker talks
between Washington and the Taliban fighters of
Afghanistan. President Obama's special envoy for
Afghanistan and Pakistan described the admission from
the Pakistani military that it has ongoing
communication with the Afghan Taliban as not
surprising.
However, Ambassador Holbrooke did say that he sees
that admission publicly as a positive development.
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, SPECIAL ENVOY TO
PAKISTAN/AFGHANISTAN: There have been long
allegations that there are continued contacts, and I
think it's a step forward for the Pakistanis to say
publicly what everyone has always assumed.
WARE: But under what some Pakistani military officers
described as intense pressure following the
revelations of the military's ongoing communication
with the Taliban, Pakistan military headquarters in
Rawalpindi issued a denial of the remarks of its
official spokesman, describing them as fabricated,
baseless and taken out of context -- even those
remarks were made on camera.
Nonetheless, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke says he
will privately take up this issue with the Pakistani
government when he visits Islamabad in coming weeks.
T.J., Betty?