*MUNICH, GERMANY: *Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday voicedcautious optimism about a partial truce agreed between the Taliban and USand said that a further announcement was expected in the coming 10 days.
The agreement for a seven-day “reduction in violence” announced this weekafter long negotiations between Washington and the militants has raisedhopes that a comprehensive peace deal could follow.
But it is still not clear when the period will begin and Ghani said thatthe Taliban’s sincerity in entering the agreement was unproven.
“That’s the billion dollar question,” Ghani said at the Munich SecurityConference.
But he added, “you’re not going to find an answer to this question unlessyou engage in the peace process.”
The acid test of the Taliban’s sincerity will be their willingness toaccept elections, Ghani said – something they have always refused to engagein.
If the preliminary agreement holds, the hope is that direct talks betweenthe Taliban and Kabul government could follow, with an eventualcomprehensive peace deal the ultimate goal.
The US wants to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan, whichcurrently numbers between 12,000 and 13,000, with President Donald Trumpkeen to make good on a promise to bring troops home after 18 years of war.
Ghani, whose administration has at times been frustrated at being shut outof talks between the US and Taliban, mostly conducted in Doha, insisted hewas “on the same page” as Washington.
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He said Afghanistan and the US would be making another announcement in thecoming “week to 10 days” in order to “demonstrate mutual confidence andtrust between us.”
“You’re not going to solve this issue on the basis of paper discussions,”he said.
“You are going to have to take an existential step forward and test.”
There have been previous false dawns in Afghanistan, with a deal all butcomplete in September before Trump nixed it at the last moment amidcontinued Taliban violence.
The Taliban, ousted from power in Kabul in a US-led invasion in 2001, haslong demanded the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.
But US and Afghan officials say a reduction will depend on the militantssticking to their side of the deal.
Ghani said his country was well prepared for an initial fall in US troopnumbers to 8,600, pointing out that the vast majority of combat operationsare now carried out by Afghan forces. -APP/AFP
