Americans serious about troop pullout, say Taliban

KABUL demand, claims a senior negotiator of the rebel movement.

Sher Abbas Stanikzai, who led the Taliban at peace negotiations with the United States in Qatar, said: “I think the US is very serious about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan.”

In a video message released by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, Stanikzai said: “I am hopeful that US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad will play a key role in the Afghan peace process.

“Our jihad has forced the Americans to leave Afghanistan and now they are pursuing a political option,” the negotiator remarked.

President Ashraf Ghani did not have the power to decide on keeping foreign troops in Afghanistan or asking them to quit the country, he alleged. “It is up to the Americans to decide either to leave or to stay in Afghanistan.”

Stanikzai has been replaced by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar as head of Taliban’s political office in Qatar. Now Baradar, the Taliban’s deputy chief, will lead the peace talks.

Taliban’s envoys think Khalilzad was more powerful than the previous US negotiators they had interacted with. 

Given his experience, Stanikzai hoped, Mullah Baradar’s appointment as head of Taliban’s political bureau would spur the group’s political activities.

In response to a request from Khalilzad, Baradar was freed by Pakistan in October to facilitate the peace process. He had been detained in Karachi in 2010.

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