Hillary Clinton: US held meeting with Haqqani network

The US has blamed the recent attack on Kabul's US embassy on the Haqqani network

The US has held its first ever meeting with representatives of the Haqqani militant network, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says.

She did not give any details about who was involved and where they met.
But one senior US official said the meeting took place over the summer, before several major attacks against US interests in Pakistan.
Mrs Clinton has been in talks in Islamabad, where she has urged Pakistan to clamp down on the Haqqanis.
Pakistan has so far refused to act.
Hillary Clinton said the US held a preliminary meeting with the Haqqani network to see if they would even show up to such a meeting.
There had been reports about the talks over the summer but the US had refused to confirm it at the time.
Mrs Clinton, speaking to Pakistani journalists, said the US had reached out to the Taliban and to the Haqqani network to test their sincerity and willingness to engage in a peace process.
A political settlement is key to ending the war in Afghanistan. The secretary of state said Pakistan had helped faciliate the meeting.
A senior US official also said the meeting took place over the summer at the request of Pakistan's intelligence services, the ISI, who asked the US to give it a chance.
The meeting took place before two major attacks against US troops in Afghanistan and the US embassy in Kabul.
The attacks were blamed on the Haqqani network.