Gates Says U.S. Conducting Preliminary Talks with Taliban

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that the U.S. State Department, in tandem with other countries, has been conducting preliminary "outreach" talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan.

"I think there's been outreach on the part of a number of countries, including the United States," Gates told CNN.

"I would say that these contacts are very preliminary at this point," added the outgoing Pentagon chief, who stressed it was crucial to determine "who really represents the Taliban" before jumping into talks with parties claiming to represent the group's leader Mullah Omar.

"We don't want to end up having a conversation at some point with somebody who is basically a freelancer," Gates said.

The comments came a day after Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced that the United States is holding talks with the Taliban -- the first official confirmation of such contacts after nearly 10 years of war.

"Talks with the Taliban have started ... the talks are going on well," Karzai said in Kabul.

"Also foreign forces, especially the United States, are carrying out the talks themselves."

The militants, who were driven from power in Afghanistan when U.S. and British troops invaded following the attacks of September 11, 2001, have consistently rejected any efforts to talk peace in public statements.

Although diplomats and officials say talks are at a very early stage, Karzai's remarks highlighted the increasing focus on finding a political solution in Afghanistan as foreign combat troops prepare to pull out by 2014.

U.S. President Barack Obama is due to begin the troop drawdown next month, a year and a half after he announced a troop surge to push back the Taliban and buy time for Afghan political and security development.

Gates recently said the 130,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan were making "substantial military progress on the ground," and earlier this month he urged NATO not to rush to the exits in Afghanistan.

He said Sunday that there was still a wide range of options in the war-plagued nation, but that the pace of the drawdown was up to Obama.

"Whatever decision he makes we will have a significant number of troops remaining in Afghanistan," Gates told CNN.

"The drawdown must be politically credible here at home. So I think there's a lot of room for maneuvering there frankly."

When asked if he thought it would be wise to conduct a vast drawdown as has been recommended by some senior U.S. lawmakers, Gates said: "I am not going to get into any advice that I may or may not feel is right."

The defense secretary, who retires next month, acknowledged the toll that the long mission in Afghanistan has taken at home: "I know the American people are tired of war," he said.

But while his vision for the end game in Afghanistan included a transition to Afghans assuming full responsibility for security, Gates said the United States would maintain "a key role (in Afghanistan) for some period of time."