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US, Taliban resume talks in Qatar as Kabul holds grand meeting on peace

The handout picture released by Qatar's Foreign Ministry on February 26, 2019 shows Qatari officials (C) taking part in meeting between the US and Taliban delegations in Doha, Qatar. (Via AFP)

The Afghan Taliban militant group and the United States have resumed a new round of negotiations — excluding the Kabul government — in Qatar while Afghan officials continue to host a rare assembly at home to ensure their interests are met in any peace deal with Taliban.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told Reuters on Wednesday that representatives of the government — which the militant groups views as illegitimate — were not allowed to take part in the sixth round of the US-Taliban talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.

“There will be no other side except the US and Taliban representatives in the meeting, but some Qatari officials will remain present as hosts,” he added.

The American Embassy in Kabul is yet to comment on the news.

US Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to attend the Doha discussions.

In an interview with Afghanistan’s TOLO news channel, Khalilzad said that any peace agreement with the Taliban would depend on the declaration of a permanent ceasefire and a commitment to end the war.

The Afghan-born US diplomat ‘also stressed that the Taliban’s demands were focused on the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

He added that Washington was “a bit impatient” to end the war, given its $45 billion annual cost to the US taxpayer and the toll it takes on US forces.

The US has about 14,000 troops in Afghanistan. President Donald Trump said last December that he wanted to pull about half of American troops out of the country.

During the fifth round of the US-Taliban talks in Doha, which ended in mid-March, the two sides “agreed in draft” on the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan in return for preventing the country’s soil from being used as a hub for terrorism.

Peace meeting underway in Kabul

The new round of the negotiations come two days after Afghan President Ashraf Ghani opened a four-day grand council — known as Loya Jirga — with more than 3,200 delegates seeking to agree on a common approach to peace talks with the Taliban.

However, some opposition politicians and government critics, including former president Hamid Karzai, boycotted the meeting.

They say Ghani is using the meeting as a platform to boost his status as a leader in the upcoming elections.

Omar Daudzai, Ghani’s special envoy for peace, said at the assembly that he welcomed the US-Taliban talks in Qatar, but that Afghan voices should be heard at the negotiating table.

“The Loya Jirga is the rational and logical start of the peace talks,” he told reporters, adding that the assembly would also examine the role of foreign powers in Afghanistan.

The US and its allies invaded Afghanistan under the guise of the war on terror. Some 18 years on, the Taliban militants have only boosted their campaign of violence across the country. 

The American forces have remained bogged down in Afghanistan through the presidencies of George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and now Trump.

The group recently announced the beginning of its spring offensive in Afghanistan despite involvement in the peace talks with the US.

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