Will a US-Taliban Peace Deal Be Signed?
KABUL (MEP) — The tenth round of US-Taliban peace talks began unpredictably in Doha, capital of Qatar.
A new round of US-Taliban talks was held in Doha last night, MEP reports.
The main difference in this round of talks is the presence of Scott Miller, the commander of foreign forces in Afghanistan and Qatar’s FM, which boosts speculation about signing the agreement.
Sohail Shahin, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Qatar, wrote in a Tweet that Zalmay Khalilzad, US special envoy for reconciliation in Afghanistan, Scott Miller, the commander-in-chief of the foreign forces, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Qatar FM presented the negotiation.
The recent meeting in Doha was “positive” and there was progress in the negotiations, said Shahin.
The tenth round comes after Khalilzad arrived in Kabul following the 9th round and handed a copy of the agreement letter to the leaders of the national unity government (NUG).
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani was scheduled to head to US and meet US president Donald Trump, but recently the issue was delayed.
The start of a new round of talks is said to be one of the reasons for suspension of the trip.
The US insists on intra-Afghan negotiating and signing a peace agreement with the Taliban, while President Ghani persists on holding the 2018 presidential election.
