US-Taliban Talks Paused as ‘Intra-Afghan Dialogue’ Begins

A delegation of Afghan politicians and civil society activists on Saturday arrived in Doha to attend a two-day intra-Afghan dialogue.

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s political spokesman on Saturday said in a tweet that the US-Taliban talks continued today.

Shaheen added that there will be a pause in the talks on July 7-8 due to the intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha.

He further said that the talks will resume on Tuesday, July 9.

“We are satisfied with the progress made in the negotiation and we hope the rest of the work is finalized soon. We haven’t faced with any special obstacle yet,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, Shaheen told Ariana News correspondent in Doha that they were not consulted regarding the Afghan delegation that will attend at the intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha.

He added that the decision has been made by the Germany and Qatar countries that are jointly hosting the conference.

According to Shaheen, Taliban prefers the participation of those figures who had attended in the last two meetings in Moscow, the capital of Russia.

However, most of the prominent Afghan politicians who attended the two rounds of talks with the Taliban in Moscow are not among the new delegates.

On July 4, reports emerged that the U.S. and Taliban negotiators are edging closer on a possible peace deal but the withdrawal of foreign forces and elections are disputable issues.

On the other hand, the Afghan presidential palace on Saturday said that the seventh round of talks between the U.S. and Taliban officials is critical.

Presidential Spokesman Sediq Sediqi said that the ongoing peace efforts will probably lead to a primary peace agreement with the Taliban in the next two months.

“We are trying to witness landmark progress in the next two months which is the launch of direct talks between the government and the Taliban,” Sediqi said.