Agreement with Taliban conditional, say top US official

KABUL which will be inked next week is conditional, a statement from the Presidential Palace said.

This was state in a meeting between President Ashraf Ghani and US Defence Secretary Mark Esper, Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo and NATO Commander Scott Miller in Germany on the sideline of Munich Security Conference on Friday, the statement said.

Defence Minister Asadullah Khalid, Deputy Foreign Minister Haroon Chakhansouri and Amrullah Saleh were also president in the meeting.

“No article of the agreement is unconditional, the Taliban may propagate but the fact is that the Taliban have decided to renounce violence and join the society,” the statement said.

The two sides also talked about mechanisms that ensure government monitoring over the peace process despite ownership of the process.

The statement quoted US foreign secretary as saying: “Let the Taliban whatever they say from everywhere they say, but the fact is that they should say good bye to terrorism and Alqaeda and renounce violence. We support Afghan security forces and will continue to support them.”

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani may start consultation with security institutions and different groups of society and informed them about recent development.

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