Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban said on Monday that their political envoys in Qatar were awaiting the United States official communication about direct negotiations to find out a political solution to the conflict.

The Taliban comments came following New York Times report that the Trump administration had told its top diplomats to seek direct talks with the Taliban to end the 17-year war.

Taliban have long been demanding direct talks with Americans as they insist the US is the major party to the conflict and that they want an end to the foreign invasion.

On its part the US would press the Taliban to sit face-to-face with Afghan government. But the US new approach is seen as a major shift in its policy as its military option has failed to defeat the Taliban, who now control more areas since the US and its NATO allies invaded the Islamic country in 2001.

“We have seen reports about the US intention to hold direct talks with us. We still await a formal offer for the direct negotiations. We have not yet received anything officially,” a Taliban official at the Qatar political office told Daily Times when he was approached for the Taliban reaction.

“We want names of our leaders removed from the United Nations sanctions list as a confidence building measure ahead of the talks,” said the Taliban political envoy, who did not want to be identified as they had not yet received formal offer for the talks.

He also demanded reopening of the Taliban office in Qatar.

The office was closed down days after it was opened in 2013 after then Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticizsd the Taliban white flag and plaque of the “Islamic Emirate” displayed at the office. Taliban would use white flag and Islamic Emirate during their rule of Afghanistan (1996-2001).

“We will start official talks with the US about the withdrawal of foreign forces and their concerns,” the Taliban representative said.

“We want direct negotiations with the US to find out a solution to the problem. We want talks on the withdrawal of the foreign troops first and then we will work for peace,” he further said.

He said Taliban would be having good relations with the world community and neighbours when the issue of the foreign forces is resolved. “We will actively take part in rehabilitation.”

When asked if the Taliban have any plan for the format of the negotiations and that who will attend and any guarantor, he said: “We have a plan for the talks but will not reveal its details at the moment.”

Taliban officials had earlier said their political envoys in Qatar would start preliminary talks and the leadership council could form another high-level team for formal talks.

“The Islamic Emirate will press for its longstanding call to remove names of the Taliban leaders from the UN sanctions list so they could take part in talks,” he said.

Although Pakistan insists peace process in Afghanistan is a shared responsibility of all stakeholders, it has been pushing the Taliban to join peace process and has also backed President Ashraf Ghani’s dialogue offer to the Taliban in February.

Taliban political envoys had visited Pakistan in January to discuss Pakistan’s prospects for reconciliation but later they told Pakistan that they would not hold talks with the Kabul administration but would always be ready for talks with the US.

Taliban supreme leader Maulvi Haibtullah had also reiterated the same stance in his Eid message in June.

The US also showed flexibility in its position and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said on June 16, “The United States stands ready to work with the Afghan government, the Taliban, and all the people of Afghanistan to reach a peace agreement and political settlement that brings a permanent end to this war.”

On his part, President Ashraf Ghani also hinted at discussion on the presence of foreign troops in an apparent response to Taliban’s calls for withdrawal of foreign forces.

“We’re ready for comprehensive negotiations… all those issues and demands that have been put forth. The Afghan government is ready to discuss issues of mutual concern with neighbouring countries and presence of foreign forces,” Ghani had written on Twitter last month.

Published in Daily Times, July 17^th 2018.