Trump optimistic after meeting advisers to discuss Taliban deal but Kabul still worried about an abrupt US exit
Preparations for a peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan are going “very well,” United States President Donald Trump said after a meeting with top advisers.
The US has been holding talks with Taliban officials in Doha in recent months in an effort to negotiate an end to America’s longest and most expensive war almost two decades after it entered Afghanistan.
“Discussions centred around our ongoing negotiations and eventual peace and reconciliation agreement with the Taliban and the government of Afghanistan,” White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said.
“The meeting went very well, and negotiations are proceeding.” One of the main issues in the negotiations is the withdrawal of US and international forces from the country.
However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government in Kabul has expressed concern about an abrupt departure.
The US has sought to offer several assurances to Kabul about America’s continuing relationship in the event of a US-Taliban deal with a separate agreement, sources in the Afghan government told The National.
Mr Trump said on Twitter: “Just completed a very good meeting on Afghanistan. Many on the opposite side of this 19-year war, and us, are looking to make a deal – if possible!”
Mr Trump, who is on a working vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, received an afternoon briefing from US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other advisers on the talks, which have been handled by Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad.
Vice President Mike Pence and White House national security adviser John Bolton were among the attendees, an official said.
A US defence official said differences remained between the US and the Taliban after an eighth round of talks ended in Qatar on Monday.
They include a demand by the US that the insurgents publicly renounce ties to Al Qaeda and other militant groups and agree to a nationwide ceasefire, the official said.
The US military presence dates back to 2001 when George W Bush, president at the time, invaded Afghanistan in pursuit of Al Qaeda and ousted the Taliban rulers who had given Osama bin Laden and his followers a safe haven in which they plotted the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Mr Trump has been adamant since the start of his presidency that he would like to withdraw US forces, possibly before the November 2020 election.
Expectations are rising about a deal in which the US will start withdrawing its 14,000 soldiers from Afghanistan.
Washington is keen to end its involvement in Afghanistan, where it has spent more than $1 trillion and the war has turned into a stalemate.
In return, the Taliban would commit to various security guarantees, including a guarantee that the Afghan hardliners, who long harboured Al Qaeda, would not allow Afghanistan to become a militant safe haven.
But a troop pullout has raised deep concerns within the US military and among some politicians that Afghanistan could plunge into a new civil war that could result in a return of Taliban rule and give Al Qaeda and other militants a sanctuary in which to expand
and plot new attacks on the US and allied targets.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally, said any deal should allow America to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan to pursue such groups.
“Any peace agreement which denies the US a robust counter-terrorism capability in Afghanistan is not a peace deal,” Mr Graham said.
“Instead, it is paving the way for another attack on the American homeland and attacks against American interests around the world.”
A senior administration official said that while a decision was not necessarily expected from the Bedminster meeting, Mr Trump “has been pretty clear that he wants to bring the troops home”.
A US-Taliban agreement would not in itself bring Afghanistan’s war to an end, as the insurgents would still need to make a deal with the US-backed Kabul government.
Until now, the Taliban has refused to negotiate with Ghani’s government because it views the administration as a puppet of the US.
Mr Khalilzad also is seeking the Taliban’s commitment to holding direct negotiations on a political settlement with Kabul government officials who would be part of a delegation that includes opposition leaders and civil society representatives.
“In continued close co-operation with the government of Afghanistan, we remain committed to achieving a comprehensive peace agreement,” Mr Pompeo said.
This would include “a reduction in violence and a ceasefire, ensuring that Afghan soil is never again used to threaten the United States or her allies, and bringing Afghans together to work towards peace”.
Even as the US and Taliban claim progress in talks, little has changed for Afghans on the ground.
A UN tally found that last year was the deadliest on record, with at least 3,804 civilian deaths caused by the war – including 927 children.
According to the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 217,000 people had to flee their homes because of fighting during the first seven months of this year, prompting a huge need for humanitarian aid across the war-torn nation.