KABUL - President Hamid Karzai had a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State John Kerry on issues of common interest on Saturday afternoon, the Presidential Palace said.

On March 21, Karzai had told the secretary of state that the Taliban were willing for negotiations with the High Peace Council, but some barriers existed. For the peace process to make progress, Pakistan’s cooperation was necessary, he had said.

Today Kerry held out the assurance that he had spoken to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on the need for Pakistan’s role in pushing forward the Afghan-led reconciliation campaign.

He briefed the president about his recent conversation with Sharif regarding the peace process in Afghanistan, a statement from Karzai’s office said.

About the stalled peace efforts, the president alleged said that some American allies in the region -- a reference to Pakistan -- deliberately put obstacles in the way of peace in Afghanistan.

Foreign intelligence networks were involved in recent deadly attacks in Kabul, the Karzai was quoted as saying. The Afghan people wanted the United States to create clarity in this regard, he added.

He made clear the terrorist attacks would neither undermine the will of the Afghan people to build a brighter future for their country nor help the strategic relations between Kabul and Washington, he concluded. (Pajhwok)