A PRAYER FOR PEACE
Secretary of State Antony Blinken has proposed a United Nations-led peace conference in Turkey aimed at forming an inclusive Afghan government with the Taliban and establishing a three-month reduction in violence leading to a cease-fire.
In a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani requesting his “urgent leadership,” Mr. Blinken signaled that the Biden administration has lost faith in faltering negotiations between Mr. Ghani’s government and the Taliban. The unusually blunt letter, in which Mr. Blinken asked Mr. Ghani to “understand the urgency of my tone,” reflected U.S. frustration with the Afghan president’s often intransigent stance in stalled peace talks.
The existence of the letter was confirmed by a U.S. official in Washington and the Afghan government.
Negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban began in September as part of a February 2020 agreement between the militants and the United States. But the talks have faltered over issues like a prisoner exchange and reductions in violence.
Mr. Blinken wrote that the U.S. had not decided whether to withdraw the remaining 2,500 American troops from Afghanistan by May 1, as outlined in its agreement with the Taliban. He expressed concern that “the security situation will worsen and that the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains” following a U.S. withdrawal.
The State Department declined to comment on the letter but said in a statement that “all options remain on the table” regarding the withdrawal of troops. “We have not made any decisions about our force posture in Afghanistan after May 1,” the statement said.
A pullout would create enormous security challenges for Mr. Ghani’s government and its overburdened security forces.
The proposed U.N.-led conference in Turkey would include envoys from the U.S., China, Russia, Pakistan, Iran and India “to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan,” Mr. Blinken wrote.
The existence of the letter was reported after Zalmay Khalilzad, the American peace envoy, delivered an outline of U.S. policy options to Mr. Ghani’s government and Taliban negotiators last week. The proposals — intended to reinvigorate the stalled peace negotiations — included a road map for a future Afghan government with Taliban representation, a revised Afghan constitution using the current one as an “initial template,” and terms for a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.
The New York Times obtained a copy of the proposals, dated Feb. 28, which Afghan officials confirmed were delivered by Mr. Khalilzad last week. Significantly, the proposals called for national elections after the establishment of a “transitional peace government of Afghanistan.” The Taliban have opposed elections.
The proposals also include guaranteed rights for women and for religious and ethnic minorities, as well as protections for a free press. The Taliban violently suppressed women and minorities and did not permit independent news media when the group led Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
The outline presented by Mr. Khalilzad proposed a High Council for Islamic Jurisprudence to advise an independent judiciary to resolve conflicts over the interpretation of Islamic law. The proposals recognized Islam as the country’s official religion and acknowledged the importance of “Islamic values” in a future Afghan state.
The proposals also called for the Taliban to remove “their military structures and officers from neighboring countries.” Pakistan has provided a sanctuary for Taliban commanders and fighters crossing back and forth into Afghanistan.
Both Pakistan and the Taliban are unlikely to agree to such a proposal.
The Biden administration has said the Taliban have not lived up to their commitments to reduce violence and to cut ties with extremist groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State. But Washington has also grown impatient with Mr. Ghani, who has refused to consider an interim government that would almost certainly end his second five-year term as president.
Violence has escalated in Afghanistan over the past year, with persistent Taliban territorial gains and attacks on beleaguered government forces. Mr. Ghani’s government has blamed the Taliban for a series of targeted assassinations.
The Taliban have used the violence as leverage in the peace talks in Doha, Qatar, dragging out negotiations while awaiting a decision by President Joe Biden on the May 1 troop withdrawal.
Mr. Blinken’s letter expressed impatience with the pace of negotiations, saying the U.S. intended “to move matters more fundamentally and quickly toward a settlement and a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.”