[The Taliban said Monday that its delegates had no plans to meet with members of the Kabul government, which it insists is just a puppet of the Americans and too divided internally to negotiate effectively.]
By Sayed Salahuddin
U.S.
special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, talks with local
reporters at
the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Nov. 18, 2018. (Handout/Reuters)
|
KABUL
— Talks in Abu Dhabi between
the Taliban, the United States and several other countries stretched into a
second day Tuesday as an Afghan government delegation arrived, raising the prospect
that rebel and government representatives might meet face-to-face for the first
time.
Initially, the talks between the Taliban
emissaries and a team led by U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, as well as officials
from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, were expected to last
one day, but Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid confirmed that the meetings
would continue through Tuesday.
The Taliban said Monday that its delegates
had no plans to meet with members of the Kabul government, which it insists is
just a puppet of the Americans and too divided internally to negotiate
effectively.
The government team is led by President
Ashraf Ghani’s chief of staff, Abdul Salam Rahimi. According to spokesman Harun
Chakhansoori, it will “begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation” to
prepare for a “face-to-face meeting between the two sides.”
He added that the government delegation will
be in the UAE for some days to come.
During Monday’s talks, the Taliban insisted
on the pullout of U.S.-led troops from Afghanistan, according to a statement by
Mujahid.
“Talks revolved around the withdrawal of
occupation forces from Afghanistan, ending the oppression being carried out by
the United States and her allies,” it said.
Taliban officials told the Reuters news
agency that also under discussion was a six-month cease-fire, as well as naming
a Taliban representative to a future caretaker government.
The UAE talks come after at least a couple
rounds of meetings between Taliban delegates and U.S. diplomats in Qatar, where
a group of Taliban negotiators has lived for years.
The meeting in UAE is said to be more
inclusive because it involves other nations and at least two new Taliban
negotiators who have apparently traveled from Pakistan.
The Taliban controls more territory in
Afghanistan than at any time since its fall from power in 2001. Casualties from
the war are soaring among government troops, Taliban fighters and civilians as
the warring sides step their attacks.
Amid a stalemate on the battlefield and as
ordinary Americans are questioning the need for a U.S. troop presence after 17
years of war, President Trump assigned Khalilzad in September to resume efforts
to engage with the Taliban.
Ghani plans to run for reelection in April,
and his government has vehemently rejected a reported proposal that he delay
the presidential election and instead form an interim government while the
talks with the Taliban continue, then later hold a vote with Taliban
participation.
The State Department denies that Khalilzad
has made any such proposal.
“At no time has Special Representative
Khalilzad ever suggested the formation of an interim government in lieu of
elections,” State Department spokeswoman Heidi Hattenbach said. “The timing of
Afghan elections is for Afghans alone to decide.”
Briefing members of the United Nations
Security Council on Monday, the U.N. secretary general’s special representative
for Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, said the possibility of a negotiated end
to the conflict has never been more real in the past 17 years than it is now.
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