*WASHINGTON: A senior US diplomat is set to lead a large delegation on asix-nation tour, including Afghanistan, to boost that country´s peaceprocess and bring “all Afghan parties together in an intra-Afghandialogue,” the State Department said Sunday.*
The statement said Zalmay Khalilzad, a former ambassador to Afghanistan whohas undertaken extensive recent talks with the Taliban, would head aninter-agency delegation from February 10 to 28.
It was unclear whether the group had already left at the time of thestatement.
The itinerary will take the US delegation to Belgium, Germany, Turkey,Qatar, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the statement said, adding that Khalilzadwould “consult with the Afghan government throughout the trip.”
The emphasis on bringing “all Afghan parties together” appeared crucial.US-Taliban peace talks have not included the Afghan government, which theTaliban considers US-backed puppets, and Khalilzad said recently thatintra-Afghan negotiations were essential.
The US envoy has in recent months met several times with Taliban officialsin Qatar, where the group´s leaders have an office in the capital Doha.
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Khalilzad said Friday that he hoped to see a peace deal in place beforeAfghanistan´s July presidential elections.
President Donald Trump has been pushing to end US involvement inAfghanistan, where 14,000 American troops are still deployed. But Khalilzademphasised that any troop withdrawal would depend on conditions on theground.
Afghanistan has suffered nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasionof 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, and a USinvasion following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. – APP/AFP
