Daily Times

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former chief executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah to end political crisis, posing threat to the US interests and harming the peace process.

Pompeo’s hard-hitting statement came after Ghani and Abdullah, who has also declared himself as the country’s president, refused to agree on establishment of an inclusive government.

The top US diplomat met both leaders during his unannounced visit to Kabul on Monday at a time when the Trump administration seeks quick progress on the peace process but the Afghan government refusal to release the Taliban prisoners and its failure to announce a tam for intra-Afghan dialogue. Pompeo later travelled to Qatar and met a Taliban delegation led by their Political Deputy Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pompeo “gave assurances that the US forces withdrawal will continue in accordance with the declared timetable.”

On his part Pompeo said Taliban are consistent with the agreement signed with the US in Qatar last month. “They (Taliban) committed to reducing violence; they have largely done that, and then they are working towards delivering their team to the ultimate negotiations,” he told media persons accompanied him when asked is the Taliban also acting inconsistently with the agreement that they made?

The State Department issued transcript of Pompeo with the travelling press and Daily Time also received it. Pompeo announced a cut of one billion dollars assistance to Afghanistan and another one billion dollars in 2001.

“We will also initiate a review of all of our programs and projects to identify additional reductions, and reconsider our pledges to future donor conferences for Afghanistan,” he said.

However, the US announced 15 million dollars in assistance to help combat the spread of the coronavirus in Afghanistan. In Kabul Ghani played down the aid cut and told the nation in a televised address claimed the US decision “will have not a direct impact on key sectors in Afghanistan.” All US efforts to encourage Ghani and Abdullah agree on an inclusive government have failed as the two rivals have rejected a power-sharing formula.

American peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad had been involved in a shuttle diplomacy for weeks to save the agreement with the Taliban as political differences could affect implementation of the deal. “The United States deeply regrets that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah have informed Secretary Pompeo that they have been unable to agree on an inclusive government that can meet the challenges of governance, peace, and security, and provide for the health and welfare of Afghan citizens,” the State Department said early Tuesday.

“The United States is disappointed in them and what their conduct means for Afghanistan and our shared interests. Their failure has harmed US-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonors those Afghan, Americans, and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure in the struggle to build a new future for this country,” according to a statement.

“Because this leadership failure poses a direct threat to US national interests, effective immediately, the US government will initiate a review of the scope of our cooperation with Afghanistan.” The US also made clear to the leadership that “we will not back security operations that are politically motivated, nor support political leaders who order such operations or those who advocate for or support parallel government,” the statement said, adding the US remains convinced that a political settlement is the only solution to the conflict.

“We note that Afghan leaders are acting inconsistently with their commitments under the Joint Declaration, chiefly failing to establish an inclusive national team to participate in intra-Afghan negotiations or take practical steps to facilitate prisoner releases by both sides as a confidence-building measure to reach a political settlement and achieve a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.”

The US had signed a declaration about future cooperation on Feb. 29 hours before the Taliban and the US struck a landmark agreement to end the American longest war.

Pompeo said the US is “proceeding with the conditions-based withdrawal of our forces in accordance with the US-Taliban agreement.”

Despite tensions with Kabul, Pompeo and Taliban are satisfied at the implementation of their agreement. A Taliban statement said the Pompeo-Baradar meeting “centered around the implementation” of the US-Taliban agreement and the swift release of prisoners.

Ghani had refused to release 5000 Taliban prisoners under the Taliban-US agreement that delayed intra-Afghan dialogue scheduled for March 10.

“Both the Political Deputy of Islamic Emirate Mullah Baradar Akhund and the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stressed that the rigid implementation of the agreement will pave the way for intra-Afghan negotiations along with enduring peace and ceasefire including a future Islamic government in accordance with the agreement,” the statement said.

“The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo gave assurances that the US forces withdrawal will continue in accordance with the declared timetable,” according to the statement.