Khalilzad in Doha discusses commencement of intra-Afghan talks with Taliban

The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and Commander of US forces in Afghanistan General Scott Miller met with the deputy leader for the Taliban Mullah Ghani Baradar in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Suhail Shaheen, the political spokesman for the Taliban tweeted that the two sides discussed the kick start of the long-waited intra-Afghan dialogue.

“Both sides talked about speedy release of the prisoners and commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations,” Shaheen said.

A Pakistani news agency – Arab News – cited a Taliban official reported that Taliban leadership, known as Rehbari Shoura, has approved the commencement of the intra-Afghan talks.

Majority of the council members, who met during the month of Ramadan, opined that if parts of the peace agreement with the United States, particularly the release of Taliban prisoners, were implemented then there was no harm in starting the dialogue, a Taliban official familiar with the process has told the Arab News.

“Another meeting of the Shoura will decide the agenda for the intra-Afghan dialogue which is expected to be held soon,” the official said on a condition of anonymity.

It comes as Khalilzad met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa Sunday and discussed steps required for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations. 

“The two took note of recent progress created by the Eid ceasefire and accelerated prisoner releases as well as reduced violence ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations,” US Embassy in Islamabad said in a statement.

According to the statement, the two sides agreed that peace in Afghanistan offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance security, connectivity, and development for the region.

Meanwhile, Khalilzad is expected to visit Kabul to review the implementation of all commitments in the US-Taliban agreement and with all parties as well as the US-Afghanistan JointDeclaration, “specifically reduced violence and prisoner releases.”

 “The primary the focus of Ambassador Khalilzad’s trip is to obtain agreement between the Afghan parties on the practical next steps necessary for a smooth start to intra-Afghan negotiations,” the US Department of State said.