July 26, 2019
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, on July 25, 2019 said he had productive discussions with government leaders on forming an inclusive as part of efforts for the next steps of the peace process.
Khalilzad said in a tweet that in his meetings with President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, and Acting Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani, they focused on next steps in the peace process and that efforts are underway to form an “inclusive and effective” negotiating team.
The Afghan government reassured the US special envoy that an inclusive negotiating team will be formed and that only a few people will be making the structure of the team.
“Our final efforts will be focused on the formation of an inclusive delegation, concise but inclusive. Of course, the issue of the effectiveness of this team has major importance for us,” President Ghani’s spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told reporters on Thursday.
“Those who are familiar with peace and are honest should be part of the negotiating team,” said Haji Din Mohammad, member of the High Peace Council.
Critics also stressed the need for the formation of an inclusive team.
“There is a question because when the government wants to create a ministry, it is created very soon, but it has not managed to form a delegation. I think the reason is that the government leadership has no confidence even in their close aides,” political analyst Wahid Muzhda said.
Meanwhile, the US chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford arrived in Kabul on Wednesday for consultations with US, NATO, and Afghan officials, US Department of Defense reported.
Dunford said negotiations with the Taliban have not changed the military mission in Afghanistan.
“Day to day, the mission hasn’t changed for General Miller and the team, and they are still taking the fight to the Taliban and supporting the Afghan military,” Dunford said.
He said he wants to ensure Army Gen. Austin S. Miller, the commander of the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, has all he needs.
Source: TOLO news
Disclaimer: Views expressed on this blog are not necessarily endorsed or supported by the Afghan Studies Center and Center for Research and Security Studies, Islamabad.
