US, Taliban likely to restart stalled peace talks

PESHAWAR (Pajhwok): Both Pakistan’s political office on ways of resuming stalled peace negotiations.

A senior Pakistani official, familiar with renewed efforts to put the US-Taliban talks back on the rails, told Pajhwok Afghan News both sides appeared to be interested in returning to the negotiating table.

Last month, after the killing of a US soldier in a Taliban attack in Kabul, President Donald Trump called off dialogue with the militant movement.

“We remain committed to efforts for resumption of the US-Taliban talks and involvement of the Afghan government in the peace process,” a source in the Foreign Office said.

He added major world powers were mounting pressure on the Taliban to announce a meaningful ceasefire with the Afghan government.

While regretting President Trump’s decision on cancellation of talks, the official hoped the two sides would iron out their differences and restart dialogue in the near future.

Led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a delegation of the Taliban Political Commission (TPC) in Doha visited Islamabad earlier this month.

The visiting team met Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US special representative Zalmay Khalilzad in Islamabad.

At meetings in Islamabad, Kabul’s reservations about its exclusion from the peace push were also discussed. The Taliban envoys promised talks with Kabul after reaching a deal with the US on a troop pullout.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is believed to have pleaded with Trump and his point man on Afghanistan Khalilzad that a return to peace parleys remained a viable option.

The official said Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators had agreed that a prisoner swap could be an effective confidence-building measure.

mud