Taliban, US resume peace talks in Qatar

PESHAWAR: After a long break, the Afghan Taliban and the United States on Wednesday resumed the peace talks in Qatar to find a solution to the 17-year long Afghan conflict, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

He said US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad had met Taliban’s political council chief Mulla Abdul Ghani Baradar in Qatar and exchanged views about key aspects for a peaceful resolution of the Afghan issue. The US and Taliban have frequently met since October 2018 in Qatar but couldn’t develop consensus on key issues. Taliban wanted the US to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan and let the Afghans resolve their issues in the country. Also, the Taliban are eager to exchange prisoners with the US, though majority of their prisoners are in custody of the Afghan government and their security forces. Taliban have been constantly refusing to sit with the Afghan government for peace talks. The US is pressing Taliban for ceasefire and wants them to publicly disown al-Qaeda. “It is absolutely vital that the two key agenda points of the previous meeting: full-withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from harming others are finalised. This will open the way for resolving other aspects of the issue and we cannot enter into other topics before this,” Taliban spokesman said in a statement.

Zabihullah Mujahid said that it was affirmed in the meeting (between Mulla Baradar and Khalilzad) that talks shall resume on Wednesday, but Taliban wanted guarantee that they would discuss these issues in their peace negotiations so that an agreement can be reached regarding all issues including the withdrawal of foreign forces."This will open the way for resolving other aspects of the issue and we cannot enter into other topics before this," he said.

Taliban sources in Qatar said they had felt that Khalilzad and his team members would use maximum influence to press Taliban on ceasefire. “We feel that Khalilzad and his team are eager to get something from the peace process that better suits them. They are desperately trying to convince or force Taliban on ceasefire but that would never happen so easily,” said a Taliban leader in Qatar. Pleading anonymity, he said their team would continue to pursue their two major points in the talks. “There are other issues that could come under discussion in the peace talks such as prisoners’ exchange and an interim set up in Afghanistan in case peace talks are succeeded,” said the Taliban leader. “There is no way we can engage the Afghan government in peace process. Everybody is aware that it was the Afghan government that sabotaged an effort for bringing all Afghans together in Qatar in the intra-Afghan dialogue by trying to send a huge delegation of 250 people to the conference,” the Taliban leader explained. He said they had made it clear on Khalilzad that they would only meet US officials instead of the Afghan government as all their demands are related to the United States. According to Taliban sources, their talks could continue for a few days to reach any agreement.

Meanwhile, Taliban sources in Qatar said that they are likely to change their chief negotiator Mulla Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai in the ongoing peace talks. “It is decided by the top leadership that Mulla Mohammad Fazil Akhund should be appointed as the new chief negotiator in peace talks with the United States in Qatar. I don’t know about reasons that led Mulla Abbas Stanakzai’s replacement but I heard the top leadership felt he could not represent them and their case accordingly,” said one senior Taliban leader. He said Stanakzai will participate in the peace talks but would not lead the Taliban delegation. Zabihullah Mujahid didn’t confirm this piece of information, saying Stanakzai will continue to attend the peace talks.