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Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar must be part of any negotiated settlement in Afghanistan as attempts to split the militant movement will fail, according to the former Pakistani intelligence officer who first trained the militant chief.

Retired brigadier Sultan Amir Tarar, known as Colonel Imam, served with the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency and was a key player in Afghanistan from the 1980s battle against the Soviet invasion until 2001. He says that Mullah Omar would be willing to negotiate.

"If a sincere message comes from the Americans, these people [the Taliban] are very big-hearted. They will listen. But if you try to divide the Taliban, you'll fail. Anyone who leaves Mullah Omar, is no more Taliban. Such people are just trying to deceive," said Mr. Tarar, a tall man who cuts an imposing figure with a long grey beard and white turban.

While Western powers and Kabul are looking for ways to engage the Taliban, the current "reintegration" plan is an attempt to divide the movement by bringing in lower-level fighters with the promise of jobs. This political strategy will be pushed at an international conference on Afghanistan on Thursday in London.

Western military commanders only envisage going further up the Taliban command structure after making gains on the battlefield - and few would advocate negotiating with Mullah Omar himself.

But Mr. Tarar, 65, believes that is a mistake. He trained Mullah Omar when the scholar was fresh out of an Islamic seminary, back in 1985, to fight the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. At the time, the ISI was running secret camps for mujahedeen fighters with U.S. funding along the Afghan border. Then the pair met up again in 1994, when Mullah Omar had formed the Taliban and the Pakistani official was posted in the western Afghan city of Herat, and "got closer to each other," Mr. Tarar said.

The ISI spotted the potential of Mullah Omar's militia of Islamic purists in the mid-1990s and heavily backed them, this time without American help. While Washington has consistently equated Mullah Omar's beliefs with the global jihad promoted by Osama bin Laden, the Pakistani military establishment believes the Afghan rebel leader's ambitions are limited to Afghanistan, and that the Taliban can now even be persuaded to share power with other Afghan groups.

"Mullah Omar is highly respected, very faithful to his country," said Mr. Tarar, who made clear he was speaking in a personal capacity. "He's the only answer. He's a very reasonable man."

Mr. Tarar said that Mullah Omar would be willing to cut a deal, if it would lead to the departure of foreign troops, together with funds to rebuild the country - both declared aims of the U.S.-led force. "I can help," he said. "But can I trust the Americans?"

Pakistan admitted over the weekend that it is talking to "all levels" of the Taliban. The leadership of the Taliban is widely thought to be in Pakistan, with allegations that it is sheltered by the ISI.

Mr. Tarar said that without talks, a grinding war will continue.

"The time is on the Taliban's side. The longer the Americans stay, the more complete will be their defeat. They will not be routed but they will be worn out, psychologically and physically."

Some allege that Mr. Tarar maintains connections with the Taliban and that he has even been spotted in Afghanistan in recent years, providing guidance for the insurgency. He flatly denied entering Afghanistan after October of 2001, when he was recalled by Islamabad - under a U.S. ultimatum after Sept. 11, 2001, that saw Pakistan officially drop its support for the Taliban.