KABUL – A new round of peace talks between the Taliban and the US gotunderway in Qatar on Wednesday, as the foes continue to seek a way out ofAmerica’s longest war.
The latest negotiations come as pressure builds for some sort ofbreakthrough in the gruelling Afghan conflict, with Washington jostling fora resolution.
According to a Taliban spokesman, the group’s top political leader MullahAbdul Ghani Baradar met with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the mendiscussed “key aspects for a peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue”.
Khalilzad, who has stressed “there is no final agreement until everythingis agreed”, has previously outlined the basic framework for a deal.
The pact would see the US agree to pull its forces from Afghanistan inreturn for the Taliban vowing to stop terror groups ever again using thecountry as a safe haven.
According to the Taliban, Baradar told Khalilzad it was vital those two keypoints “be finalised”. The US embassy in Kabul confirmed only that talkswere taking place.
Khalilzad, a former US ambassador to Afghanistan, has spent several monthsshuttling between Asian capitals and Washington in a bid to build consensusfor a deal.
On Sunday, the Afghan-born envoy said Washington was “a bit impatient” toend the war, given its $45 billion annual cost to the US taxpayer and thecontinued toll on US forces, some 2,400 of whom have been killed since theUS-led invasion in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.
US President Donald Trump provided additional momentum when in December hetold advisors he wanted to pull about half of America’s 14,000 troops fromAfghanistan.
– Mega meeting in Kabul –
Despite several rounds of negotiations between the US and the Taliban, noneof the talks thus far have included the Afghan government, which theTaliban views as a puppet regime.
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That means that even if the US and the Taliban can agree a deal and atimetable for an eventual troop withdrawal, the insurgents must still forgesome kind of accord with Afghan politicians and tribal elders before anenduring ceasefire could kick in.
An initial attempt for an “intra-Afghan dialogue” — due to take place lastmonth in Doha — collapsed at the last minute amid bickering over thelengthy list of delegates Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wanted to send.
Separately, thousands of Afghan politicians and representatives are meetingin Kabul this week at a “loya jirga” peace summit to discuss conditionsunder which they could envision a deal with the Taliban.
Among top concerns are that the militant Islamist extremists would try toundo advances in women’s rights, media freedoms and legal protections.
Mohammad Omar Daudzai, Ghani’s special envoy for peace, welcomed the freshUS-Taliban talks and described how the jirga could feed into peace talks.
“The jirga sets a logical beginning for the peace process,” Daudzai toldreporters. “The people in the jirga will decide and set boundaries and theframework of talks.”
Khalilzad went to Moscow last week, where Russia and China voiced supportfor the US plan for a peace deal and stressed the need for intra-Afghandialogue that would see all sides in Afghanistan at a negotiating table.
He tweeted Wednesday he was in Doha and had met with the Indonesian foreignminister, who offered support for the talks.
Meanwhile violence across Afghanistan continues apace, and the Taliban lastmonth announced the start of their annual spring offensive. – APP/AFP
