US envoy seeks Afghan peace deal before July vote

WASHINGTON: The United States is hoping Afghanistan can strike a peace agreement including the Taliban before elections scheduled for July, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Friday.

"It will be better for Afghanistan if we could get a peace agreement before the election, which is scheduled in July," the negotiator said, adding that there remained "a lot of work" to do.

Michael Kugelman , the Deputy Director of the Asia Program and Senior Associate for South Asia at the Wilson Center, quoted Khalilzad as saying: "There's been a "positive change" with #Pakistan's actions in regards to helping facilitate talks with the Taliban. "We appreciate what they've done so far.

"Khalilzad, who is leading talks with the Taliban, was at the US Institute of Peace in Washington to discuss an ongoing push for a political settlement to the 17-year-old Afghanistan conflict.