WASHINGTON – Ambassador Alice Wells, the senior bureau official for Southand Central Asian Affairs, has said the United States government isprepared to support, facilitate, and participate in direct negotiationsbetween the Afghan government and the Taliban.

In an official testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee onWednesday, Ambassador Wells said “Our desired outcomes for any peaceprocess are clear and have not changed. The Taliban must renounce violence,break ties with al-Qaida, and accept the Afghan Constitution – includingits protections for women and minorities.”

“There have been signs that the Taliban’s Pakistan-based leaders aredebating the merits of joining a peace process; however, the group has notresponded to President Ghani’s offer of unconditional talks,” she added.

This comes as the Taliban group leadership has been emphasizing on directtalks with the US officials in a bid to end the ongoing conflict inAfghanistan.

“The only path to rescuing ourselves from all these calamities is for allAmerican and other occupying forces to leave our country and for anindependent, Islamic, intra-Afghan government to take root. Our Jihad beganfor this exact purpose and in conjunction to our armed Jihad, we have keptthe doors of understanding and negotiations open to reach this objectiveand appointed the Political Office of the Islamic Emirate as the exclusiveavenue of activity in this regard,” the Taliban supreme leader MullahHebatullah Akhundzada said in a message released ahead of Eid Al-Fitr.

He said “If the American officials truly believe in a peaceful end to theAfghan imbroglio then they must directly present themselves to thenegotiation table so that this tragedy (invasion) – the destructive effectsof which mainly harm the American and Afghan people – can be resolvedthrough talks. The biggest mistake on part of the American officials isthat they approach every problem with stubbornness but force cannot yieldresults in every case.”