KABUL: A fresh round of talks between US diplomats and Afghan Taliban representatives aimed at ending the war in Afghanistan started in Qatar on Monday.
However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government has been sidelined from the peace discussions on the insistence of the Taliban.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Arab News that the agenda for the two-day meeting in Doha will be: “Ending the US-led occupation of Afghanistan and assurances from the Taliban that the Afghan soil will not be used against any country.”
In a sign of how serious the latest negotiations are being taken, deputy Taliban leader Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has also traveled to the Qatari capital to join other delegates of the movement who have run the group’s political office there for years, analysts said.
Baradar was, for a long time, on an international blacklist that barred him and other Taliban members from traveling.
His attendance at the talks will be his first since US President Donald Trump last summer appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as Washington’s special envoy for Afghanistan reconciliation to search for a way to end the conflict and pull US troops out of the country.
Baradar was freed a few months ago from a Pakistani jail on Khalilzad’s request.
In recent weeks the Afghan government in Kabul has complained to the UN over a trip by Taliban emissaries, reportedly on a travel-ban list, to Russia where the insurgents held for the first time a major meeting which involved members of various Afghan ethnic groups, factions and political rivals of Ghani.
The Taliban recently announced cancelling a trip to Pakistan and a scheduled meeting with its Prime Minister Imran Khan due to Kabul’s protests over delegate travel bans.
No Afghan government official was invited to the Moscow meeting, and due to Taliban objections Kabul has been excluded from previous rounds of meetings between US and Taliban representatives.
Afghan Presidential Palace officials had no immediate comment about the latest round of talks in Doha.
Kabul, has in the past, insisted that any outcome of dialogue without its participation would lack legitimacy.
Speaking at a meeting on Monday, Afghan government Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said the unwillingness of the Taliban to engage in direct talks with Kabul was a “key barrier” to peace.
Khalilzad in a tweet from Doha described the meeting as "significant."
He tweeted: "Arrived in #Doha to meet with a more authoritative Taliban delegation. This could be a significant moment. Appreciate #Qatar for hosting & #Pakistan in facilitating travel. Now the work begins in earnest."
Khalilzad, in his last trip to Kabul nearly two weeks ago, called on the Afghan government to form an inclusive and national team for starting negotiations with the Taliban while the latter push for a solution about the fate of foreign forces first before holding talks with Kabul.
The last round of talks between the Taliban and Khalilzad in Doha was booked for two days but lasted for six.
Waheed Mozhdah, a political analyst who knows some of the Taliban leaders, termed the current meeting as “crucial” because it will revolve around the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan in return for a guarantee from the Taliban that the country will pose no future threat to America or any other country.
“These are not simple issues and the talks may prolong again,” Mozhdah told Arab News.
“The fact that Mullah Baradar is taking part shows the importance of the meeting.”
