Veteran US envoy returns to former role in Afghanistan
Former US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad is to reprise his role as special envoy to Afghanistan, 17 years after he helped to plan the invasion of a country from which Washington is desperate to leave.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday said that the veteran diplomat, 67, would advise Donald Trump’s government as it tries to bring Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s government and Taliban leaders together.
Mr Pompeo said Mr Khalilzad would focus on “developing the opportunities to get the Afghans and the Taliban to come to a reconciliation”.
He was born in Afghanistan and educated at the American University in Beirut and the University of Chicago.
After the September 11 attacks on the US in 2001, president George W Bush picked Mr Khalilzad to help plan the invasion of Afghanistan.
He served as US ambassador to Afghanistan after the Taliban were ousted, from 2003 to 2005.
As ambassador to Iraq in 2005, Mr Khalilzad helped to bring together Kurds and Arabs to approve a new constitution, and was instrumental in running the first elections after the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein.
Between 2007 and 2009 he served as US ambassador to the UN, where he was noted for his conciliatory style, in stark contrast to his predecessor John Bolton, now the US National Security Adviser.
Mr Pompeo, who since his appointment in April has sought to reinvigorate a State Department with hundreds of vacancies caused by mass resignations, has turned to Mr Khalilzad to help end America’s longest war.
The appointment is part of a trend in the Trump government of turning back to high-level diplomats to run delicate negotiations as Washington seeks resolutions around the world.
He is the fourth such envoy named by Mr Pompeo in the past month, after Brian Hook, who will handle Iran policy, James Jeffrey, who will run Syria policy, and Stephen Biegun, the special representative for North Korea.
Mr Khalilzad will leave his role as head of his business consultancy, Gryphon Partners, to deal with a peace progress that has been hobbled by the Taliban increasing attacks across the country and insisting on direct talks with the US, not Kabul.