*WASHINGTON: *The US envoy negotiating with the Taliban will hold new talksthis month in Qatar, the State Department said Saturday, as momentum buildsfor a deal to end America’s longest war.

Zalmay Khalilzad, a veteran US policymaker who is leading President DonaldTrump’s push to broker a peace deal with the Taliban, left Friday on a17-day trip that will also take him to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Germany,Belgium and the United Arab Emirates, the State Department said.

In Doha, he will resume talks with the Taliban after a break of around amonth “to move the peace process forward,” the statement said.

Khalilzad has already met six times with the Taliban in recent months as helooks to seal a deal under which the United States will pull out troops whowere first deployed following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The United States and the Taliban are believed to have largely agreed onthe key demand of Washington from 2001 and again now — that the Taliban notallow Afghanistan to be used by extremists.

But a major sticking point remains therefusal of the Taliban to negotiate with President Ashraf Ghani’sgovernment, which enjoys international support.

The Taliban, believing they have leverage on the military front, have alsorejected Ghani’s overtures for a nationwide ceasefire.

“No one should expect us to pour cold water on the heated battlefronts orforget our 40-year sacrifices before reaching our objectives,” Talibanchief Haibatullah Akhundzada said in a rare message released Saturday.

In Kabul, Khalilzad will meet representatives of civil society and women’srights groups, which have been especially concerned about a larger role forthe Taliban.

Khalilzad will “encourage all parties to work towards intra-Afghannegotiations that lead to a final peace settlement,” the State Departmentsaid.

Germany, another of Khalilzad’s stops, has voiced willingness to hold ameeting on peace in Afghanistan.

He will start his trip in Pakistan, which has facilitated the talks withthe Taliban. -APP/AFP