Taliban hold talks with US envoy in Qatar

Islamabad, November 18 

The Taliban have held three days of talks with US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the Afghan insurgent group has a political office, a Taliban official and another individual close to the group said Sunday. The talks are aimed at renewing the Afghan peace process and eventually winding down America’s longest war. 

Seventeen years after the US-led invasion that ended Taliban rule, the militants control nearly half of Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks on local security forces and government officials.

The two individuals said Khairullah Khairkhwah, the former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mohammed Fazl, a former Taliban military chief, attended the marathon talks. 

The two individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the sensitive negotiations. US officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The State Department has refused to comment on reported talks with the Taliban.

A third individual with knowledge of the discussions said the Taliban pressed for a postponement of next year’s presidential elections and the establishment of an interim government under a neutral leadership. 

Abdul Sattar Sirat, an ethnic Tajik and Islamic scholar, was suggested as a candidate to lead an interim administration. Khalilzad also proposed a cease-fire, which the Taliban rejected, a source said. — AP