WASHINGTON - Taliban leader Mullah Omar will not have a constructive role in Afghanistans future because he is unlikely to renounce terrorism, and remains 'attached at the hip to al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, the US State Department has said. State Department spokesman PJ Crowleys comments came after increasingly strong indications that the Afghan government was looking to negotiate a peaceful settlement to the conflict with the Taliban. The United States and NATO have backed talks with members of the Taliban who are willing to give up violence and terrorism while accepting the Afghan government and its laws. We have great scepticism that Mullah Omar is going to be one of those people who takes advantage of this process, Crowley said. Mullah Omar has been attached at the hip to bin Laden for some time. So based on everything that we know about him today, he will not meet the criteria that we have laid out. Crowley confirmed that the United States was helping facilitate talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, but would not go into details. We are facilitating and supporting this process ... but this is an Afghan-led process, he said, not going into the details of the US role. The New York Times reported Thursday that US forces are permitting Taliban leaders to travel in order to meet with representatives of the Afghan government. Nevertheless Crowley said Omar would be one of those trying to gain unfair advantage from the temporary cessation of hostilities brought on by the peace initiative. We have great scepticism that Mullah Omar is going to be one of those people who takes advantage of this process, Crowley said.