DOHA – The US envoy for Afghanistan peace efforts, Zalmay Khalilzad metTaliban representatives in Qatar on Friday, as per a report carried by theWall Street Journal.
The leading paper citing a person familiar with the meeting, said Khalilzadmet with Taliban officials in Qatar’s capital for the second time in fourmonths as President Trump’s administration mulls to find a way to end the17-year-old Afghan conflict.
The Journal said it was not clear what the two sides discussed; Khalilzad,the US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation is trying tobring the Taliban to the negotiating table, is currently on his first tripfor 11 days as the special representative to visit Afghanistan, Pakistan,the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Saudi Arabia.
The US State Department declined to say whether the meeting with Talibanofficials in Doha took place or not.
‘We can’t confirm specific meetings or the content of diplomaticconversations,’ said a State Department spokesperson.
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‘Special Representative Khalilzad held a number of meetings with a widerange of stakeholders as part of his trip to explore how best to reach anegotiated settlement to the conflict in Afghanistan,’ added thespokesperson on the condition of anonymity.
The meeting comes months after Alice Wells, the State Department’s deputyassistant secretary for South and Central Asia, met Taliban officials inJuly for what was described as talks about talks. A Taliban official whowas part of the four-person delegation to that meeting said it produced‘very positive signals’.
