Sowing confusion, Taliban reject plan for peace talks

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN >> The Afghan government on Saturday announced it was preparing for direct negotiations with the Taliban in the next two weeks, a major step in efforts to end a war so long that it has left record casualties in its wake.

But the Taliban quickly rejected it.

The militant group’s spokesman said the Taliban was steadfast in its refusal to directly negotiate with the Afghan side until the United States announces a schedule for withdrawing the remainder of its 14,000 troops in the country. Analysts questioned the point of the government’s announcement when the Taliban’s position on the withdrawal of U.S. troops was clear all along.

The episode was the latest bit of confusion in a prolonged peace process. The insurgents and the Americans are nearing a deal after seven rounds of protracted negotiations in the Qatari capital of Doha — talks that have excluded the Afghan government. As part of that agreement, expected to be completed soon, the United States and the Taliban would settle on a timeline for the withdrawal of U.S. troops — one believed to be under two years with conditions attached.

But U.S. diplomats, recently aided by Germany and Norway, have struggled to advance the process to its next step, in which the Taliban would negotiate with the Afghan government over the political future of the country after the American-led NATO mission ends its military presence. Afghan and Taliban leaders have yet to meet, except for a recent summit where a small number of officials attended in a personal capacity.

President Ashraf Ghani has been skeptical of the U.s.-taliban talks that have excluded his government, expressing concern that the United States was leaving the hard gains of the Afghan state vulnerable to a hasty deal that benefits only the Taliban. His officials have vented their anger openly.

But critics say Ghani’s foot-dragging is also personal. In their view, he is prioritizing October presidential elections, in which he is running for a second five-year term, over a deal that would most likely end his presidency. Campaigning for those elections begins today, with 17 candidates challenging Ghani.

The Afghan government’s announcement of direct talks with the Taliban, in the form of a statement from the country’s recently appointed minister for peace, came after senior U.S. officials held extensive talks with Ghani over the past week to ease his concerns over the initial Taliban-american agreement.

In return, the insurgents would provide assurances that Afghanistan would not be used by international terror groups such as al-qaida to launch attacks on the Americans and their allies, and that it would sit down with the Afghans to negotiate the country’s political future.

Saturday’s announcement by the Afghan government said it was settling on a 15-member negotiating team that would represent different crosssections of society and that talks would be in a European capital, believed to be Oslo, Norway.

“Following efforts of the government for direct negotiations between the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban, these negotiations will begin in the next two weeks,” read the statement by the office of Salam Rahimi, the peace minister.

Less than an hour after Rahimi’s announcement, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected it.