The US and Afghan governments have begun secret three-way talks with the Taliban, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told The Wall Street Journal, in a move that could bolster US-led efforts to convene fully-fledged peace talks within months.

Karzai's government had previously been excluded from early, exploratory contacts between the Taliban and the US, with the insurgents seen as resisting the involvement of a local administration they regard as a puppet of Washington.

But, the Journal quoted Karzai yesterday as saying the Taliban were "definitively" interested in a peace settlement to end the 10-year war in Afghanistan, and that all three sides were now involved in discussions.

"People in Afghanistan want peace, including the Taliban. They're also people like we all are. They have families, they have relatives, they have children, they are suffering a tough time," the Journal quoted Karzai as saying in an interview conducted on Wednesday in the Afghan capital.

"There have been contacts between the US government and the Taliban, there have been contacts between the Afghan government and the Taliban, and there have been some contacts that we have made, all of us together, including the Taliban."

The newspaper said Karzai had declined to specify the location of the talks or go into further detail, saying he feared this could damage the process.

Karzai's comments have been published as he prepares to meet the leaders of Pakistan and Iran in Islamabad yesterday for a summit set to focus on security issues, including the Taliban insurgency and support for it from within Pakistan.

Reuters