Roadblocks to peace remain
For week after week, decade after decade, wedding parties and schoolrooms were blown up, diners gunned down in restaurants, doctors’ and patients’ throats slit in hospitals, and mosques and gyms bombed. Only the craziest Afghans dared to dream of life without war.
But yesterday, it became a reality as sworn enemies sat together smiling in a marble ballroom in Qatar’s capital Doha. The United States and the Taliban signed a historic peace deal aimed at ending America’s longest war and bringing peace to a country that has seen more than 40 years of conflict.
The agreement to start the pullout of US troops followed a week-long truce which was mostly judged to have held. But it comes amid doubts about whether the Taliban can really be trusted, and fears that bitter divisions in Kabul between the newly re-elected president, Ashraf Ghani, and his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, could erupt into a new war.
Taliban leaders warned followers to be careful about what they posted on social media, after a series of declarations of victory, proclaiming ‘‘Kabul here we come’’.
US officials persuaded Ghani to delay his swearing-in so as not to provoke Abdullah, who disputes the election result.
The deal is the culmination of 10 rounds of negotiations spanning more than a year, since US President Donald Trump decided that the war could not be won militarily.
A deal was originally agreed last August, then torpedoed on the eve of signing by a tweet from the irascible US leader.
There were no such tweets yesterday. Trump urged the Afghan people ‘‘to seize this opportunity for peace and a new future for their country’’.
At Doha’s Sheraton Hotel, it was all smiles as turbaned Taliban representatives mingled with sharp-suited American officials led by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Also present was the foreign minister of Pakistan, the country whose backing of the Taliban was crucial to their holding out against Nato troops.
The occasion saw a procession of old friends and foes arriving at the Sheraton, and some extraordinary meetings.
Timothy Weeks, an Australian professor who was kidnapped from Kabul’s American University, was met at Doha airport by Anas Haqqani, whose brother leads the Haqqani network which held Weeks hostage for more than three years. Haqqani was freed from prison in Kabul in November as part of a swap that saw Weeks and an American lecturer released.
The agreement provides for a phased withdrawal of Nato troops, with the US pulling out 5000 of its 14,000 troops over the next few months, and all of them within 14 months. Britain’s 1100 troops may be among the last to leave, as they are responsible for the security of Kabul.
In return, the Taliban has pledged not to allow Afghan soil to be used for terrorism.
Yet for all the optimistic atmosphere, the real challenges still lie ahead.
Next week the first meetings get under way in Oslo to put flesh on the deal. It is unclear, however, who will participate. The Taliban have refused to talk to the Afghan government, branding it a ‘‘US puppet’’. It is unclear what kind of power-sharing agreement the two sides could agree on.
Other contentious issues include women’s rights. Under Taliban rule before 2001, women were not allowed to work or wear lipstick, and girls were banned from school.
Fawzia Koofi, MP, the first Afghan woman to lead a political party, said: ‘‘Have [the Taliban] actually changed? And who will be the guarantor of any commitments?’’