The Taliban political representatives and US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad held an ‘informal meeting’ in Qatar to explore ways for the resumption of the peace process, sources said on Thursday.
President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled the peace process with the Taliban in September due to an attack in Kabul which killed an American soldier and 10 other people including a Romanian soldier.
Sources said Khalilzad held a follow-up meeting with the Taliban negotiators in Qatar this week following their talks in Islamabad in early October that focused mainly on suggestions to end the deadlock.
Taliban spokesman in Qatar Suhail Shaheen did not reply to queries.
Sources say Khalizlad met the Taliban negotiators after his trips to Kabul, Islamabad, Moscow, Brussels and Paris where he held consultations on the peace process. Daily Times has learnt that Taliban and the US are now discussing confidence building measures that include a prisoner swap deal to end deadlock in the peace process.
Taliban sources had earlier confirmed to Daily Times that Pakistani had been mediating for the release of the foreign hostages and there had been negotiations about the agreement in Qatar.
Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib said in Kabul that Khalilzad had discussed the issue of prisoners with President Ashraf Ghani during his recent meeting.
Taliban have been demanding release of their prisoners including Anas Haqqani, brother of Taliban deputy chief Siraj Haqqani, and his uncle Mali Khan.
A brief ceasefire by the Taliban will also be proposed during the intra-Afghan dialogue to be held in Beijing later this month. Taliban say head of the Taliban political office Abdul Ghani Baradar will lead the Taliban in the intra-Afghan talks.
Afghan government says a team for the Beijing meeting has been finalized and the names will be announced ahead of the meeting. The talks were earlier scheduled to be held on Oct 28-29 but were postponed on Kabul’s request as Afghan officials wanted the talks after the announcement of preliminary results of the presidential elections.
Taliban have so far rejected calls for the ceasefire and accuse the US forces of intensifying air strikes.
A Taliban official said last month that Khalilzad had proposed a week-long ceasefire by the Taliban during the Islamabad meeting to restart the talks but the suggested was rejected. Pakistani officials in talks with the Taliban called for reduction in violence for building of trust.
Taliban spokesman Shaheen said in an interview last month that Taliban had agreed to declare ceasefire against the US and its NATO allies following the signing of the peace agreement on Sept 13. However, Trump’s cancellation of the peace process blocked signing of the agreement. He said the offer was still intact if the US signs the agreement.
