Wonderful: U.S. Seeks Direct Talks With Mullah Omar

I guess this will be a negotiated surrender. Should do wonders for Obama's re-election and let's face it, that's what this is all about.

American officials have set a goal of direct negotiations with Mullah Omar, the leader of the Taliban, prompting Washington to approach intermediaries to broker meetings within months.

With America expected to begin withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in July, Washington has stepped up the pace of talks with Taliban leaders.

During a visit to Islamabad last month, Marc Grossman, Washington's special envoy to the region, appealed for help in contacting the reclusive Taliban leader, according to Imtiaz Gul, the head of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad.

"He said we are looking for people or groups that can demonstrate their access to Mullah Omar," Mr Gul said.

In February, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, signalled a sea change in policy when she compared talking with the Taliban to President Ronald Reagan's decision to "sit down with the Soviets". During a farewell trip to the region last week, Robert Gates, the outgoing US defence secretary, predicted that talks would start "by the end of the year".

Mr Grossman, the replacement for special envoy Richard Holbrooke, has been nicknamed "Mr Reconciliation" and has been told to focus on tying up an agreement that will speed up the return of American troops.

American officials had already contacted Tayyab Aga, Mullah Omar's personal secretary, who was the last public voice of the Taliban in 2001. Analysts believe that President Barack Obama, with Osama bin Laden dead and an economic crisis at home, could announce a larger than expected initial withdrawal this year – at least 10,000 troops – although no announcement has yet been made.

One senior defence official said: "The president has said he wants the withdrawal to start in July and to be meaningful. Those are the discussions that have to happen."

Mr Gul said that time was running out to strike a political deal between Afghanistan's warring factions.

"They [the Americans] are desperate. The timeline has already been announced so they are operating by the idiom 'the sooner the better'," he said. Last year a shopkeeper posed as Mullah Mohammed Akhtar Mansour, a former Taliban minister, and twice met Western officials before they realised they had been tricked – and fleeced for thousands of dollars.