The US negotiator on Afghanistan will shortly resume talks with the Taliban and seek efforts toward a ceasefire, officials said Wednesday, three months after President Donald Trump abruptly halted diplomatic efforts that could end America’s longest war.
Zalmay Khalilzad has arrived in Kabul to meet President Ashraf Ghani, a senior Afghan official told AFP, less than a week after Trump visited Afghanistan and gave his blessing for a return to negotiations.
The State Department said that Khalilzad, a veteran US negotiator who was born in Afghanistan, would head to Qatar to meet with the Taliban after his meetings in Kabul.
In a nod to concerns raised by Ghani, the State Department voiced support for a ceasefire — which the Taliban have long rejected and did not figure in a draft accord that Khalilzad earlier reached with the Islamist insurgents.
“Ambassador Khalilzad will rejoin talks with the Taliban to discuss steps that could lead to intra-Afghan negotiations and a peaceful settlement of the war, specifically a reduction in violence that leads to a ceasefire,” a State Department statement said.
In September, the United States and the Taliban had appeared on the verge of signing a deal that would have seen Washington begin pulling thousands of troops out of Afghanistan in return for promises to keep out foreign extremists.
It was also expected to pave the way towards direct talks between the Taliban and the government in Kabul and, ultimately, a possible peace agreement after more than 18 years of war.
But that same month, Trump abruptly called the year-long effort “dead” and withdrew an invitation to the insurgents to meet in the United States after the killing of an American soldier.
During a surprise visit to an American military base in Afghanistan last week, Trump said the Taliban “wants to make a deal.”
But the insurgents later said it was “way too early” to speak of resuming direct talks with Washington.
The Taliban have described the Afghan government as illegitimate and steadfastly refused any halt in their grisly campaign of violence, which they see as leverage.
But even during the stall in talks, Khalilzad has seen signs that the Taliban is ready to cooperate.
