Taliban meets with US peace envoy

KABUL — Taliban leaders will continue to have discussions with the newly appointed US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, the group said on Saturday, a move that could accelerate diplomatic engagement between the warring sides.

Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born US diplomat, met Taliban leaders in Qatar on Friday in an effort to find a way to end the 17-year-old war in Afghanistan.

“Both sides spoke (about) an end to the occupation and a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue … Both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future,” Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said in a statement.

Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday and briefed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about his 10-day tour of four countries, which ended with the meeting with leaders of the hardline Islamist militant group.

According to Taliban sources, the two sides arrived with tough conditions.

“It was an introductory meeting in which an eightmember US delegation held a detailed meeting with members of our political office,” said a senior Taliban member. Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanakzai, who is the head of Taliban’s Qatar office, led the discussions, he said.

Another senior member of the Taliban said Khalilzad had asked the Taliban leadership, based in the Qatari capital Doha, to declare a ceasefire in Afghanistan for six months, starting before the Oct 20 parliamentary polls.

“Both sides discussed prospects for peace, and the US presence in Afghanistan,” said another Taliban official, requesting anonymity.

In exchange, the Taliban want the Afghan government to release fighters from jails across the country and the swift removal of foreign forces fighting alongside Afghan troops.

A Taliban source said the US delegation proposed forming different committees to handle the release of prisoners.

Both sides spoke (about) an end to the occupation and a peaceful solution to the Afghan issue … Both sides agreed to continue meeting in the future.” Zabiullah Mujahid,

“Neither side agreed to accept the other’s demands immediately, but they agreed to meet again and find a solution to the conflict,” he said.

In July, the Taliban reportedly met with US officials, including Alice Wells, the senior official for the State Department’s Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs.

Neither side would go on the record to confirm that meeting, but there has been speculation since then that more talks were planned.

The reported July meeting followed an unprecedented cease-fire involving Afghan security forces and the Taliban in June, which fueled hopes that fighting could be brought to an end after 17 years.

But a wave of attacks by the Taliban and the Islamic State group in recent months and a failed attempt at a second cease-fire have poured cold water on the nascent optimism for peace.

The Taliban’s decision to issue a statement on the meeting suggests it sees the talks with Khalilzad as a propaganda win, analysts said.

The group has long called for bilateral talks with the United States, but Washington has repeatedly refused, insisting the process must be Afghan-led.