US ‘SEEKS PEACE CONFERENCE FOR AFGHANISTAN TO BE LED BY UN’

▶ Reports say Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised move with President Ashraf Ghani

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly sent a letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, proposing a UN conference attended by Iran among others, to reach a settlement in the long war.

Tolonews on Sunday published a copy of an undated letter it said was from Mr Blinken to Mr Ghani, with another copy to Dr Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, proposing a peace conference under the umbrella of the UN.

“We intend to ask the UN to convene foreign ministers and envoys from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, India and the US to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan,” Mr Blinken wrote.

The US also hoped the conference will improve the chances of a 90-day plan to reduce violence and prevent the Taiban’s annual spring offensive, the letter said.

Mr Blinken said the US would ask Turkey to host a seniorlevel meeting of both sides in the coming weeks to finalise a peace agreement.

Sources in Kabul confirmed to The National that there will be such a meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan government in Turkey.

A US State Department official neither confirmed nor denied the letter from Mr Blinken.

“Ambassador Khalilzad’s trip represents a continuation of American diplomacy in the region,” the official told The

National, referring to Zalmay Kahlilzad, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation.

“We have not made any decisions about our force posture in Afghanistan after May 1.”

The official said that “all options remain on the table”.

The conference would be similar to the Bonn gathering in 2001, which put a structure in place for a political process in Afghanistan after the US invasion.

It involved representatives from a wide range of Afghan parties, as international agencies and diplomats pushed them towards a solution.

Anti-Taliban leaders met in the German city after the USled invasion removed the insurgents from power and agreed on a provisional administration and a roadmap for forming a permanent government and writing a new constitution.

Mr Khalilzad, who recently left Kabul and was visiting Doha along with “other regional capitals”, is pushing for a shake-up of the stalled peace process, including an interim government and a conference of central players, Reuters said.

He is the only US envoy who served in the administration of Donald Trump to have kept the portfolio under President Joe Biden.

In Kabul, Mr Khalilzad met Dr Abdullah, Mr Ghani and other political and civil society leaders, including former president Hamid Karzai.

The US is also proposing an interim government arrangement, referred to as a participatory or representative government.

“We’re considering a number of different ideas that might accelerate the process,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Friday.

But Mr Khalilzad’s plans immediately met with objections from the Afghan government and the Taliban.

Mr Ghani made a fiery speech in Parliament on Saturday, repeating his refusal to step aside for an interim government.

“Any institution can write a fantasy on a piece of paper and suggest a solution for Afghanistan,” he said.

Mr Ghani said any transfer of power would have to take place through elections, as required by the constitution.

A Taliban official in Doha told Reuters the group would not join an interim government but was not opposed to one being formed.