Pakistan Presses Taliban to Enter Afghan Talks ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan called on the Afghan Taliban to start talks with the Kabul government on Friday, lending fresh diplomatic momentum to an American-sponsored peace process that is anchored in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, but which experts say is still advancing at a perilously slow pace. Following a phone discussion with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, on Tuesday, the Pakistani prime minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, issued a statement calling on the Taliban and "all other Afghan groups, including Hizb-e-Islami," a pro-Taliban militant group with historical ties to Pakistan, to participate in what is referred to as a reconciliation process. The statement, which came less than 24 hours after the Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with Pakistan's foreign minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, in London, is potentially significant because the Taliban leadership - and many of its fighters - are believed to be sheltering on Pakistani soil. In January, Pakistan facilitated the fledgling process in Qatar, where the United States wants the Taliban to set up a liaison office for the purpose of conducting negotiations, by allowing Taliban representatives to travel to the gulf state. Mr. Gilani's diplomatic overture appeared to be a further admission of his country's influence over the insurgents - although the nature of that influence is hotly debated. While Afghan officials assert Pakistan can deliver the militant leadership to the negotiating table, Pakistanis say otherwise. "The Taliban are not going to wait for a statement from the Pakistani leadership to begin talks," said Rustam Shah Mohmand, a retired Pakistani diplomat. Less clear, still, is the Taliban stance. Mr. Mohmand, a former ambassador to Kabul, said that a "sizeable segment" of the Taliban viewed the talks as "an American gimmick intended to cause a split in their ranks." Pakistan's stance on the Taliban is also a function of its volatile relationship with Washington, which has been effectively on hold since November when American warplanes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in a confused cross-border strike. American plans to move past that case, and re-boot diplomatic relations, were stymied this week by riots in Afghanistan set off after Korans were burned at the country's large NATO base on Monday night. Under a carefully coordinated plan, the military had planned for Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to make a formal apology for the American strike via telephone to Pakistan's army chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, on Thursday, according to a Defense Department official. Mrs. Clinton was to have amplified on that apology in her meeting with Ms. Khar, the official added. But the plan was upset by the explosion of violent rioting in Afghanistan. Obama administration officials quickly calculated that too many regrets at once would hand fresh ammunition to Republican presidential candidates, the official added. A senior Pakistani official said his government also wanted the American apology to be delayed until at least mid-March, when the Pakistani Parliament is due to hold a special sitting to debate the country's policy toward America. The complex diplomatic dance will also affect the fledgling Taliban talks process. Michael Semple, a Afghanistan expert and former adviser to the European Union mission in Kabul, said Mr. Gilani's statement on Friday was more about politics than talks. "This is about Pakistan, Afghanistan and America - not the Taliban," he said. But, he added, rhetoric alone was not sufficient to jump-start the talks process, and in the meantime all players were running out of time to make peace. "There's all sorts of things the Pakistanis can do to move towards reconciliation, but a statement won't convince anyone it is actually happening," he said. Reconciliation is doable, but the time to do it is in 2012. And I don't think the current trajectory will get us there. Declan Walsh reported from Islamabad and Eric Schmitt from Washington.