Small Wars Journal

U.S. Peace Envoy to Afghanistan Opens First Round of Resurrected Talks with Taliban

Mon, 12/09/2019 - 11:49am

U.S. Peace Envoy to Afghanistan Opens First Round of Resurrected Talks with Taliban by Kathy Gannon – Associated Press

U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on Saturday held the first official talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban since President Donald Trump declared a near-certain peace deal with the insurgents dead in September.

The talks will initially focus on getting a Taliban promise to reduce violence, with a permanent cease-fire being the eventual goal, said a U.S. statement. Khalilzad is also trying to lay the groundwork for negotiations between Afghans on both sides of the protracted conflict.

Sitting with the Taliban at the negotiating table was Anas Haqqani, one of three senior Taliban freed last month in exchange for kidnapped American University of Afghanistan professors — American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks, Taliban’s political office spokesman Suhail Shaheen tweeted…

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