Taliban, US resume peace talks in Qatar

DOHA: US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban’s top political leader in Doha on Monday, in what is believed to be the highest level engagement between the US and the Taliban since the months-long peace push began.

Khalilzad tweeted that he and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a cofounder of Taliban, held a “working lunch” ahead of a fresh round of talks with the insurgent group as the US seeks a way out of its longest war. The arrival in Qatar late Sunday of Baradar, seen as close to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, has helped fuel speculation of a breakthrough. Marathon talks last month saw the two sides walk away with a “draft framework” that included a Taliban vow to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for international terror groups.there was no accord on a US withdrawal or a ceasefire, however, issues which have derailed attempts at peace talks in the past, while the government in Kabul has voiced increasingly loud fears it was being sidelined from the talks.

“Arrived in #Doha to meet with a more authoritative Taliban delegation. This could be a significant moment. Appreciate #Qatar for hosting & #Pakistan in facilitating travel. Now the work begins in earnest,” Khalilzad tweeted. He later posted: “Just finished a working lunch with Mullah Beradar and his team. First time we’ve met. Now moving on to talks.”

A statement released by the Taliban on Monday on social media said their negotiating team would continue to be led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, while Baradar would be on hand to provide “instructions” when needed. Baradar is widely believed to be an influential leader carrying popular support across the Taliban’s myriad factions, sparking heightened expectations for the talks.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has called a Loya Jirga, a traditional gathering of political and tribal leaders, on March 17 to draw up the government’s negotiating position for talks with the Taliban, though he has yet to put together a negotiating team that would have wide support.

The Loya Jirga is a centuriesold institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups and was used to lay the foundations of a post-taliban society after a Us-led campaign drove the militants from power in 2001.