*ISLAMABAD – Pakistan helped in the dialogue between the Taliban and the USin Abu Dhabi on Monday, remarked Prime Minister Imran Khan.*
“Let us pray that this leads to peace and ends almost three decades ofsuffering of the brave Afghan people,” the premier wrote on social media.“Pakistan will be doing everything within its power to further the peaceprocess,” he said.
Washington confirmed meetings were ongoing in Abu Dhabi “to promote anintra-Afghan dialogue toward ending the conflict”, and that its envoyZalmay Khalilzad was in the region. Khalilzad “has in the past met, andwill continue to meet with all interested parties, including the Taliban,to support a negotiated settlement to the conflict,” it continued.
On Tuesday, the Afghan negotiating team, led by chief negotiator AbdulSalam Rahimi, arrived in Abu Dhabi to begin proximity dialogue with theTaliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between thetwo sides. The chief negotiator has met US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzadand is expected to meet the UAE and Saudi Arabia teams this week.
Khalilzad has made several trips to the region since his appointment inSeptember. On this trip the State Department said he is also visitingAfghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Qatar, andBelgium, where he tweeted that he had met with NATO Secretary General JensStoltenberg.
The meetings are the latest in a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed atbringing the Taliban to the table for negotiations with the Afghangovernment on ending the conflict which began with the US invasion in 2001.
The militants have consistently refused to meet with the Kabul government,however, and civilians continue to pay a disproportionate price inAfghanistan as attacks continue.
The international community remains optimistic.
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“The possibility of a negotiated end to the conflict has never been morereal in the past 17 years than it is now,” the head of the UN mission inAfghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, told the UN Security Council in New Yorkon Monday.
A negotiated end to the 17-year conflict in Afghanistan has never been morereal than it is now, the head of the UN peace mission said, highlighting aseries of important milestones achieved over recent months.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, who is also the special representative of thesecretary-general for Afghanistan, said those developments include theappointment of a team to negotiate with the country’s former rulers, theTaliban, to end their long terrorist campaign, and the announcement of apeace advisory board representing a broad range of political views,together with recent initiatives by key international partners.
The critical task at hand is to allow political space for the main actorsto formulate their positions, he added, briefing the Security Council inNew York on Monday.
“The key next step would be for representatives of the government and theTaliban to meet, or at least to formally initiate what in mediation isreferred to as talks about talks,” he said. “For the sake of a peacefulfuture of Afghanistan, these opportunities must be fulfilled, and the risksmanaged,” Yamamoto said, expressing hope that the current momentum willbring parties together and allow them to explore how they can move towardsa peaceful settlement.
Yamamoto urged countries in the region to contribute to creating anenvironment conducive to peace talks, allowing the people of Afghanistan toresolve their internal differences through negotiations.
