US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Saturday to meet the Afghan leaders and politicians.
Khalilzad met President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, the former President Hamid Karzai, the Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah, and some other prominent politicians.
Antithesis statements were published about these meetings by the Palace and Karzai’s office.
‘No agreement has been made in discussions with the Taliban yet, the Presidential palace quoted Khalilzad.
However, another statement published by Karzai’s office said that Khalilzad was happy with the progress of the peace talks with the Taliban and he hopes the results are fruitful.
On the other hand, an informed and reliable source close to Abdullah Abdullah told Khaama Press new stories about the meeting between the US peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad and prominent Afghan politicians including Abdullah.
Khalilzad has briefed Abdullah and his electoral team on five key issues including US-Taliban deal conditions, reduction in violence and ceasefire, the continuation of NUG until the final election results are announced, creating a national consensus for the success of the peace process and support of the United States from a transparent election result, the source who did not want to be named in the report said.
According to the source, US peace delegation and the Taliban have discussed over four key conditions which are the elimination of terrorism in Afghanistan and the commitment that the soil is not used against the United States of America, Intra-Afghan talks on the future government’s structure, violence reduction and ceasefire and US forces withdrawal commitments.
“Violence reduction and the ceasefire are key issues but are not possible before the US-Taliban deal is signed”, the source said quoting Khalilzad.
Afghanistan is in a critical situation, the US supports transparent election results and the National Unity Government between Ghani and Abdullah shall remain at its place until the final election results are announced, Khalilzad has said according to the source.
The US Embassy in Kabul announced the conclusion of Khalilzad’s meeting on Sunday evening with the release of a statement but did not provide further details about the discussions.
Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad and an interagency team concluded a productive visit to Afghanistan on February 2, the statement said.
Ambassador Khalilzad continued his ongoing consultations with Government of National Unity leaders President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah on U.S. efforts to facilitate a political settlement to end the war. They also discussed recent efforts by the United States to negotiate a reduction of violence with the Taliban to pave the way for a U.S.-Taliban agreement, intra-Afghan negotiations, and a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in support of a sustainable peace.
From the press release by the US Embassy, Kabul
Ambassador Khalilzad also consulted with a range of other Afghan leaders to hear their views. In all his meetings, Ambassador Khalilzad emphasized Afghans should continue to focus on bringing together an inclusive Islamic Republic negotiating team and preparing for Intra-Afghan Negotiations, the statement added.
