*WASHINGTON: *US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday did not rule outreopening talks with the Taliban if they make a “significant commitment,”after President Donald Trump cancelled a secret meeting with their leadersat his Camp David retreat.
Pompeo said Trump had not decided whether he would still withdraw US troops— but warned the Taliban of renewed military pressure if they keep upattacks.
“I hope it’s the case the Taliban will change their behavior and recommitto things we’ve talking about. In the end this will be resolved through aseries of conversations,” Pompeo told *ABC *television program “This Week.”
Trump, in a Saturday evening bombshell, said he had invited Taliban leadersand Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to meet him Sunday at Camp David, thepresidential retreat outside Washington.
Trump said he was canceling the talks because the Taliban, who have neverhalted their campaign of violence, had killed a US serviceman in a carbombing on Thursday in Kabul.
The secret talks would have come after months of diplomatic wranglingbetween the US and the Taliban over a deal that would allow Washington tobegin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.
But after the Taliban killed 12 people in a single attack in Kabul thisweek, including a US soldier, Trump said he “immediately cancelled themeeting and called off peace negotiations”.
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His announcement left the withdrawal deal shrouded in uncertainty.
“We need a significant commitment,” Pompeo said of the Taliban in aseparate interview with *CNN *when asked if the United States could restartnegotiations.
“If the Taliban don’t behave, if they don’t deliver on the commitments theymade to us for weeks and in some cases months, the president of the UnitedStates is not going to reduce the pressure,” he said.
“We’re not going to reduce our support for the Afghan security forces thathave fought so hard,” he said. -APP/AFP
