Pakistan peace talks go on; blast kills 3

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistan's new government and Taliban extremists said yesterday that they would press ahead with peace talks despite American skepticism and an extremist bombing that killed three people at a police station.

A spokesman for an umbrella group of Pakistani extremists defended the car bombing by saying the extremists maintained their right to carry out revenge killings, a glaring exception to a cease-fire declared by the group in response to the peace talks.

Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Maulvi Umar also insisted the group would continue to support attacks on U.S. forces in Afghanistan, even though a senior Pakistani intelligence official said the proposed peace deal would forbid them.

The Pakistani government says its envoys are talking with elders of the South Waziristan region's Mahsud tribe. The tribe is accused of sheltering extremists involved in attacks inside Pakistan and across the border in Afghanistan. One member of the tribe, Baitullah Mehsud, leads Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan and is considered the country's top Taliban leader. He has been accused of links to al-Qaeda and responsibility for a wave of suicide bombings, including the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.

The senior official told the Associated Press that a draft of a 15-point deal under negotiation included a commitment from the Mahsud tribe to stop attacks on Pakistani government targets and to prevent their territory from being used for terrorism in Afghanistan.

The official, who asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of his job, said it also included a commitment to evict foreigners from their area.