Daily Times

Afghan Taliban and the US officials on Saturday resumed talks to find out political solution to the Afghan conflict, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said.

Shaheen tweeted that the talks are likely to continue for a few more days.

“If the agreement is finalised then all foreign troops will quit Afghanistan in a specified timeframe that will pave the way for dialogue with all Afghan sides,” the Taliban spokesman said. He did not offer more comments.

Another Taliban official told Daily Times from Qatar that technical committees of both sides discussed draft of the agreement and the focus was on withdrawal of foreign forces.

A Taliban official earlier told Daily Times that both sides had suggested different periods for the withdrawal of foreign troops. The Taliban have offered nine months for the withdrawal of foreign forces, while American negotiators suggested withdrawal in 18 months. He said both sides could reach an understanding on withdrawal in one year or 13 months.

Taliban chief negotiator Sher Abbad Stanikzai led his team, while the American side was headed by US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

A senior member of the Taliban negotiation team, Abdul Salam Hanafi, said that all US and NATO troops would leave Afghanistan and the invasion would end after the peace deal with the US is signed. Maulana Hanafi told Taliban al-Emarah website that ceasefire would be part of the intra-Afghan dialogue, which would start after the US formally makes announcement of a timeframe for withdrawal of troops in the presence of international guarantors.

The Afghan government said on Wednesday that it had constituted a 15-member team for intra-Afghan talks that would start after the Taliban and the US announced a peace deal. The intra-Afghan dialogue would be held in Norway within two weeks after the Taliban and the US ink the deal.

“The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) will talk to Afghan side about internal issues, including the constitution, Islamic system and the ceasefire,” Hanafi said.

He said the Taliban would not accept anything contrary to Islamic values and principles of the Taliban.

Talking about the participation of the Afghan government in the intra-Afghan dialogue, he said the Kabul administration would be part of the intra-Afghan dialogue like other political groups after the issue of the withdrawal of foreign troops was resolved. But the Taliban would not talk to the administration as a government, he said.

Both sides are confident to reach a deal in the current seventh round of talks, which resumed after a break of 25 days.

“We have had 7 rounds of negotiations with the Americans in order to reach a peace agreement about foreign troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan and not allowing anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan against US and its allies. We will hold talks with the US team in order to finalise the agreement,” Shaheen had told Daily Times on July 31.

Khalilzad said ahead of the talks that the Taliban were signaling they would like to conclude an agreement.

“We are ready for a good agreement,” he tweeted after he landed in Doha on Friday to resume talks with the Taliban. “We are pursuing a peace agreement, not a withdrawal agreement; a peace agreement that enables withdrawal. Our presence in Afghanistan is conditions-based, and any withdrawal will be conditions-based,” the US envoy said.

In 2001, a coalition led by Washington invaded Afghanistan and ousted the Taliban, accusing it of harbouring al Qaeda militants who claimed the attacks that killed almost 3,000 people. Now, the US wants to withdraw thousands of troops and is hoping for a breakthrough. However, any drawdown would be on condition the insurgent group renounces al Qaeda and curbs attacks. The hardline Taliban group now controls more territory than at any point since the United States bombed them out of power. Washington is hoping to strike a peace deal with the Taliban by September 1 – ahead of Afghan polls due the same month, and US presidential polls due in 2020. US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday that “we’ve made a lot of progress. We’re talking”.

Two sources with knowledge of the talks said an agreement on the withdrawal of foreign forces in exchange for security guarantees by the Taliban was expected before August 13.

An Afghan official hinted last week that the government of President Ashraf Ghani was preparing for direct talks with the Taliban, the details of which have yet to be announced.

“We have no preconditions to begin talks, but the peace agreement is not without conditions,” Ghani wrote in Pashto on his Facebook page on Friday ahead of the talks. “We want a republic government not an emirate,” he said, a challenge to the Taliban which has insisted on reverting to the “Islamic Emirate” name Afghanistan bore under its rule.

“The negotiations will be tough, and the Taliban should know that no Afghan is inferior in religion or courage to them.”