NEW YORK – The Taliban’s deputy leader has said that despite mutualdistrust, the group would soon sign a agreement with the United States toreduce violence for seven days, while reaffirming that they were “fullycommitted” to observing the accord.
“The long war has exacted a terrible cost from everyone.… Everyone is tiredof war,” Sirajuddin Haqqanni, the leader of the Haqqani network inAfghanistan, wrote in a significant opinion piece in the New York Times.
“That we today stand at the threshold of a peace agreement with the UnitedStates is no small milestone,” Haqqani wrote.
The agreement in principle, which was reached during negotiations betweenU.S. and Taliban representatives in Qatar, could lead to a withdrawal ofAmerican troops from Afghanistan.
“Achieving the potential of the agreement, ensuring its success and earninglasting peace will depend on an equally scrupulous observance by the UnitedStates of each of its commitments,” wrote Haqqani.
“Only then can we have complete trust and lay the foundation forcooperation — or even a partnership — in the future,” Haqqani said.
“My fellow Afghans will soon celebrate this historic agreement. Once it isentirely fulfilled, Afghans will see the departure of all foreign troops,”Haqqani added.
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Haqqani also addressed fears about Afghanistan becoming once again a basefor militancy, calling such concerns “inflated.”
Writing about how women’s rights in Afghanistan would look if foreignforces left, Haqqani envisioned an Islamic system in which “the rights ofwomen that are granted by Islam — from the right to education to the rightto work — are protected.”
Haqqani stressed in the piece the need for a complete withdrawal of foreignforces. Officials in Afghanistan and the United States have said a certainnumber of troops would remain in the country to ensure stability.
The newspaper article comes after U.S. and Taliban officials recentlyagreed to a seven-day period of reduced violence in Afghanistan. If thetemporary truce is successful, the two adversaries could sign thelong-awaited peace agreement later this month.
Speaking on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that he saw “a chance”of a peace deal with the Taliban, which would lead to the withdrawal oftroops from Afghanistan and end America’s longest war.
