Pakistan may have 'low-level participation' at Afghan meet: Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan, which decided to boycott the Bonn conference on Afghanistan's future after a NATO air strike killed its 24 soldiers, may now have "low-level participation" at the meet in the wake of US President Barack Obama's call to his counterpart Asif Ali Zardari, a media report said today.

Diplomatic circles in the US were expecting "low-level participation" by Pakistan in the crucial conference beginning today in the German city, Dawn News channel reported, quoting its sources.

There was no official word on the development and top Pakistani leaders, including Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar, have insisted that Islamabad will not move back from its decision to boycott the Bonn Conference.

Dawn News quoted its sources as saying that Pakistan "might attend the talks on a diplomatic level."

It claimed the breakthrough was made possible after Obama telephoned Zardari yesterday to express his condolences at the death of the Pakistani soldiers.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unable to persuade Prime Minister Gilani to reconsider his government's decision to stay away from the Bonn conference during a telephonic conversation on Saturday.

The Bonn conference is being attended by Foreign Ministers of over 90 countries to discuss key issues like the withdrawal of foreign forces from the war-ravaged nation and negotiations with the Taliban.