Trump says he will sign a peace deal with Taliban
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would sign a peace deal with the Taliban if one were eventually reached in Afghanistan.
“Yes,” he told reporters at the White House as he prepared to depart on a trip to India. “I would put my name on it.” His comments came after a partial truce took effect in Afghanistan on Saturday, with the Taliban, US, and Afghan forces agreeing to a week-long “reduction in violence.” The truce was intended to set conditions for Washington and the insurgents to sign a deal in Doha on February 29 that could ultimately lead to a withdrawal of US forces after more than 18 years.
Trump was not specific about what document he would be willing to sign but said decisions were contingent on progress during the initial truce.
He said the cooling off period has “been holding up. It’s a day and a half. We’ll see what happens.” “I want to see how this period of a week works out,” he said.
“If it works out over the next less-than-a-week, I would put my name on it. Time to come home. And they want to stop,” he said.
“I think the Taliban want to make a deal too. They’re tired of fighting.” On the other hand, mobile phone services were restored across swathes of Taliban-contested areas of Afghanistan over the weekend as a partial truce with the militants held for a second day.
The Taliban, US and Afghan forces are currently overseeing a week-long “reduction in violence” that kicked off on Saturday.
The commitment has seen fighting drop dramatically and is set to pave the way for an American withdrawal deal to be signed later this week.
There have been reports of small clashes in rural areas, but no major attacks that have long defined the conflict have erupted, allowing telecoms operators to restore networks.
“For almost three years, all the telecom networks were not working at night in Kunduz province due to the Taliban threats,” said Akhtar Mohammad, the head of provincial telecommunication offices, saying most networks had now been restored.