Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Afghan Taliban have declared initial talks with American officials in Qatar as ‘very useful’, adding that both sides explored ways for holding formal and high-level dialogue.

A Taliban official said US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs led the delegation in talks with the Taliban political envoys in Qatar on July 23 in their first contact to end the conflict in Afghanistan. “The negotiations are at initial stage … and both sides discussed options to pave the way for future contacts and meetings,” the Taliban official told Daily Times on condition of anonymity. The talks were held in a ‘very cordial atmosphere and both sides had useful exchanges’, he added.

Sources say that head of Taliban office Maulvi Sher Abbas Stanekzai led the Taliban team in talks, who called for removal of UN restrictions on Taliban leaders and recognition of their office in Qatar. Taliban will set up another delegation for formal dialogue if preliminary talks make some progress, sources said.

Taliban political office in Qatar was opened in 2013 but was closed just days after then president Hamid Karzai criticized the group for hoisting a white flag and using signs of the Islamic Emirate on the office, which had been used during their rule in Afghanistan during 1996-2001.

The office is closed but the Taliban political representatives are still stationed in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Taliban had long been demanding direct talks with the Americans as they insist that US is a major party to the conflict. On its part, the US would advise the Taliban to sit face-to-face with the Afghan government. However, the US new approach is being seen as a major shift in the policy. Direct talks with the Taliban show a major shift in the US policy, which had been urging the Taliban to sit with the Kabul administration.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on June 16 that the US was willing to sit with the Taliban along with the Afghan government to find out a solution to the conflict. This was the first time a senior official indicated a change in the US policy to encourage the Taliban to join the peace process.

Ambassador Wells spoke with the Taliban leaders after holding hectic talks in Islamabad and Kabul earlier this month. In Pakistan, she held meetings with Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Bajwa, Chief of General Staff Lt General Bilal Akbar and ambassadors from several embassies in Islamabad during her July 1-3 visit.

Published in Daily Times, July 29^th 2018.