TALIBAN, U.S. IN ISLAMABAD TO TALK TO PAKISTAN

Islamabad, Oct. 2: Taliban co-founder Mullah Baradar was due in Pakistan on Wednesday as US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad also visited, officials said, though it was unclear if they would meet for the first time since Donald Trump scuttled talks between Washington and the insurgents.

Insurgent spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that Pakistan visit will be the fourth leg of a tour that included Russia, China and Iran.

The US embassy confirmed that Khalilzad was in Islamabad “this week” for consultations following discussions between the US and Pakistan at the UN General Assembly in New York last week. The two sides were on the brink of a deal that would have seen the US withdrawing troops from Afghanistan in return for various security promises from the Taliban.

Trump abruptly declared the talks “dead” last month, however, citing a Taliban attack which had killed a US soldier just days earlier.

The Taliban threatened more violence, but both the insurgents and the US left the door open for negotiations to resume — with most experts agreeing the US will have to return to the table eventually.

The Taliban’s spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, said that the simultaneous visits to Pakistan were a “coincidence”.

But when asked whether there was any possibility of the insurgents meeting with Khalilzad, he replied: “Why not? It depends on the Americans.” The Taliban are still ready to sign the agreement which Khalilzad and Baradar had hashed out in Doha, he said.