UN Envoy: The prospect of negotiated peace in Afghanistan is 'closer than ever'

RFE/RL
Wed, 19 Dec 2018 11:13 UTC

Former Taliban militants are shown turning over their weapons during a reconciliation ceremony in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, on September 3.

The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan says the prospect of negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan is closer than it has ever been.

The comments by Tadamichi Yamamoto on December 17 came as the Afghan Taliban said its representatives met with U.S. officials in the United Arab Emirates.

The preliminary talks were seen as an important step to launch formal peace negotiations with the Taliban.

Speaking at the UN Security Council, Yamamoto called on countries in the region "to contribute" in supporting the peace talks.

A negotiated peace "has never been more real...than it is now," he said

"The key next step would be for representatives of the government and the Taliban to meet, or at least to formally initiate what in mediation is referred to as talks about talks," he said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offered few details of the December 17 meeting except to say that "discussions were held with the American side over the end to the invasion of Afghanistan."

The Taliban has long refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government, insisting on first brokering an agreement with the United States.

While Washington has neither denied nor confirmed previous meetings with the Taliban, U.S. special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has previously held at least two rounds of talks with Taliban officials.

The Taliban controls or contests nearly half of Afghanistan, where it is waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed Kabul government and government security forces.

The country has been at war on and off for more than 20 years.

Comment: There is one major caveat - the Taliban are not interested in peace with the Afghan government. The New York Times reports:

Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said late Monday that Taliban representatives had "no plans to meet and will not meet with the representatives of the Kabul administration."

The Taliban have long refused to hold formal talks with the Afghan government. The militants have insisted on first brokering an agreement with the United States, which the group sees as the force that toppled their government in 2001.

The group seems to have shown more flexibility in recent weeks after a series of meetings with Zalmay Khalilzad, the American envoy assigned to bring everyone to the table. Taliban representatives participated in a conference on Afghan peace hosted by Russia last month that was also attended by a delegation from the Afghan side.

In addition to meeting the Taliban on several occasions, Mr. Khalilzad has been visiting countries in the region and trying to persuade them to push the insurgents to the table.

And, as Voice of America reports:

The Taliban say ongoing bilateral "serious discussions" with the United States are entirely focused on the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan and reports to the contrary are "propaganda."

The marathon three-day dialogue, being hosted by the United Arab Emirates, is due to conclude Wednesday. Pakistan says it has arranged the meeting with the insurgents to assist in the Washington-initiated bid to end the 17-year-old Afghan war.