U.S. Envoy in Kabul as Questions Over Troop Withdrawal Swirl
KABUL (Dispatches) – The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan touched down in Kabul on Monday for meetings with local officials, in a bid to revive a flagging so-called peace process as violence soars in the war-weary country and a deadline for U.S. troop withdrawal draws closer.
Zalmay Khalilzad’s arrival marks the first time he has returned to Afghanistan since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay in his post.
Speculation is rife over the U.S.’ future in Afghanistan, after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered by Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha last year.
On 29 February 2020, Qatar mediated a deal between the U.S. and the Taliban. Under its terms, Washington agreed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 14 months in return for a prisoner swap between the two rivals.
In Kabul, Khalilzad met with Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation that is overseeing Kabul’s talks with the militants in Qatar.
The two sides "discussed the talks in Doha and the review of U.S.-Taliban deal by the U.S. administration, ending the war in Afghanistan and ways to find political settlement through talks in Afghanistan,” a spokesman for Abdullah’s office said.
The envoy is also set to travel to Qatar, where he will meet with Taliban leaders along with trips to unspecified regional capitals, according to the State Department.
A day earlier, the Taliban called on the United States to adhere to the agreement which was signed last year in Doha, warning that any attempt to alter its terms would lead to the "failure of peace”.
"The Doha agreement has created a practical framework for bringing peace and security to Afghanistan. If any other pathway is pursued as a replacement, then it is already doomed to failure,” the movement said in a statement in commemoration of the deal’s first anniversary.
Zalmay Khalilzad’s arrival marks the first time he has returned to Afghanistan since U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January and asked him to stay in his post.
Speculation is rife over the U.S.’ future in Afghanistan, after the White House announced plans to review a withdrawal deal brokered by Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha last year.
On 29 February 2020, Qatar mediated a deal between the U.S. and the Taliban. Under its terms, Washington agreed to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in 14 months in return for a prisoner swap between the two rivals.
In Kabul, Khalilzad met with Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation that is overseeing Kabul’s talks with the militants in Qatar.
The two sides "discussed the talks in Doha and the review of U.S.-Taliban deal by the U.S. administration, ending the war in Afghanistan and ways to find political settlement through talks in Afghanistan,” a spokesman for Abdullah’s office said.
The envoy is also set to travel to Qatar, where he will meet with Taliban leaders along with trips to unspecified regional capitals, according to the State Department.
A day earlier, the Taliban called on the United States to adhere to the agreement which was signed last year in Doha, warning that any attempt to alter its terms would lead to the "failure of peace”.
"The Doha agreement has created a practical framework for bringing peace and security to Afghanistan. If any other pathway is pursued as a replacement, then it is already doomed to failure,” the movement said in a statement in commemoration of the deal’s first anniversary.