“Talks approach becoming necessary to isolate terrorists”

WASHINGTON : Arguing that negotiations with local militants have become necessary to isolate al-Qaeda as illustrated by recent successful attempts in Iraq, a leading American newspaper has cautiously supported Pakistan’s anti-terror efforts through pacts.
The Christian Science Monitor noted that the “Americans can hardly complain that Pakistan is on the verge of a deal” with militants as the US has already done a similar deal with Iraqi Sunnis.
“In both cases, a prime goal is simply to isolate Al-Qaeda,” it observed in a commentary “New Ways to Quell al-Qaeda?” while stressing that stakes along Pakistan-Afghanistan border are higher.
“The new government hopes to use a truce to regain authority in the border area with massive development and to win over radical groups,” the paper recognized.
The newspaper went on to say that negotiating with one type of militants “in order to isolate more-lethal terrorists has become a necessary but distasteful part of the post-Sept. 11 world.”
However, the paper was cautious about the outcome of the approach involving deals as it cited that deals reached in the last few years in Pakistan did not work.
In general terms, it said “going soft with militants in hopes of reconciliation requires hard tactics.”
Discussing the context of Pakistan’s approach, the paper noted that the political parties campaigned on anti-terrorist theme,and now want to prevent suicide bombers from striking within Pakistan again.