Khalilzad Says Talks with Taliban Were Productive

The U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad on Wednesday said he had productive meetings in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Afghan and international partners to promote intra-Afghan dialogue towards ending the conflict in Afghanistan.

In a series of tweets, Khalilzad thanked UAE for hosting talks.

Khalilzad added that he has also met with Pakistani leaders “to update them on the state of play” following their meeting in Abu Dhabi.

The U.S. peace envoy further said that he was looking forward to meeting Afghan leaders in Kabul tonight.

The UAE hosted a two-day reconciliation talks between the U.S. and Taliban in Abu Dhabi, with the participation of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

According to the Emirates News Agency, another round of talks will be held in Abu Dhabi to complete the Afghanistan reconciliation process.

The Afghan government also sent a delegation to the UAE but it did not take part in the US-Taliban talks.

In a recent statement, the Taliban insurgent group said that their latest talks with the U.S. focused on the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, the release of prisoners and halting attacks on “civilians”.