US Top Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reveals details of peace agreement with Afghan Taliban
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KABUL - US Top Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad reveals details of peace agreement with Afghan Taliban.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is in Kabul after wrapping up Doha talks, says the United States and the Taliban have reached an agreement in principle, but it is not final until US President Trump agrees on it.
The two sides have held nine rounds of talks in the past ten months.
Talking to TOLOnews, Mr. Khalilzad said that based on the draft agreement, the US will withdraw 5,000 troops from five bases in Afghanistan within 135 days if conditions in the agreement are addressed by the Taliban.
“Yes, we have reached an agreement in principle,” Mr. Khalilzad told TOLOnews’ Lotfullah Najafizada just hours after he briefed Afghan leaders on his on the US-Taliban deal. “Of course, it is not final until the US president [Donald Trump] agrees on it. So, at the moment, we are at that stage.”
The US envoy said that as part of the agreement, at the first stage, the provinces of Kabul and Parwan – where the Bagram Airfield is located – will see a reduction in violence.
Mr. Khalilzad said the return of an Islamic emirate, the term used for the Taliban’s governance system, by force is not acceptable.
