Taliban delegation meets Khalilzad in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD/WASHINGTON: A Taliban delegation met US special representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad for more than an hour on Thursday, the first known contact between the sides since US President Donald Trump called off talks last month.

The Taliban are ready to stand by a tentative agreement struck in Doha before Trump cancelled the talks, according to the Pakistan’s foreign minister and sources from the militant group, who said the insurgents were eager to resume negotiations. However, the meeting in Islamabad did not represent a resumption of formal negotiations, official sources cautioned.

“The Taliban officials held a meeting with Zalmay Khalilzad ... Pakistan played a big role in it to convince them how important it was for the peace process,” a senior official was quoted as saying by a British wire service. The official added that the meeting, which was confirmed by a second source, did not involve formal negotiations on the peace process, but aimed at building confidence. He declined to elaborate further on the discussions.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said the Taliban were set to meet with Khalilzad during their visit to Islamabad though he was not aware of what they discussed and exactly when a meeting was taking place.

“They were due to meet Zalmay Khalilzad. I think that might have happened. I’m hoping that they have met,” he was quoted as saying on Friday. He added that the Taliban considered themselves as abiding by a tentative agreement signed with Khalilzad in Qatar before Trump called a halt to talks.

“They’re ready to own their commitment,” he said. Two Taliban sources confirmed they viewed themselves as committed to the agreements reached in Doha and were disappointed when Trump pulled out of talks.

A State Department representative said Khalilzad had spent several days in Islamabad this week for consultations with authorities in Pakistan, but his meetings in Islamabad did not represent a restart of the Afghan peace process.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, would not confirm or deny that Taliban had met Khalilzad, adding that the Taliban delegation was still in Islamabad for meetings on Friday. Speaking on condition of anonymity, a Taliban leader in Afghanistan said the delegation’s visit to Pakistan was intended to revive negotiations to end the 18-year war.

A Pakistan government source said that Pakistan would do “whatever possible” to get stakeholders, including Russia and China, to meet and work on guarantees of any successful peace arrangement.

“The Taliban want all stakeholders like America, Russia, China...to sit together and give some guarantees that any deal done and signed wouldn’t be backed out before they resume the negotiations,” he was quoted as saying. He said Pakistan government was also trying to ensure the Afghan government was included.