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US Ready To Facilitate Talks Between Govt And Taliban

The US continues to remain reluctant to hold direct talks with the Taliban but Washington does however appear to be optimistic about the prospect of peace following the successful three-day ceasefire between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

A truce between the two sides lasted for the duration of Eid-ul-Fitr but the Taliban immediately took up arms again after the ceasefire ended late Sunday. 

Although President Ashraf Ghani announced a 10-day extension on government’s ceasefire – the Taliban has not yet responded and instead continues to carry out attacks across the country. 

However, on Wednesday, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells told members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee that Washington was prepared to support direct talks with the insurgent group.

“The United States has made clear that we are prepared to support, facilitate and participate in direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. We will support all Afghan stakeholders as we work to reach a mutually agreed negotiated settlement that ends the conflict and ensures that Afghanistan is never again used as a safe haven for terrorist groups,” she said. 

“After more than 16 years of war, we see a real opportunity this year to start an Afghan peace process that could lead to a double settlement of the conflict,” she said. 

She called on the Taliban to renounce violence, cut ties with al-Qaeda and endorse the Afghan constitution. 

According to Wells, a negotiating group has also been formed in Washington which will work together with the US embassy in Kabul. 

Wells added that the presence of top Taliban leadership in Pakistan has helped kept these leaders cocooned from the daily pressure of war in Afghanistan. 

“We are also calling on Afghanistan’s neighbors, especially Pakistan, to take additional steps in support of peace. Despite some positive indicators, we have not yet seen Pakistan take the sustained, the decisive steps that we believe it should pursue including the arresting or expelling of Taliban elements who do not come to the negotiating table,” Wells said. 

But the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, of New York, questioned why the hard line on direct talks.

“The way I see it is, if we can talk to (North Korea’s leader) Kim Jong Un, certainly we can talk to the Taliban,” Engel said in reference to the US’s stand to not hold direct talks with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, NATO forces in Afghanistan have said that the military pressure on the Taliban is an important element in terms of getting the group to the peace tables. 
 
“You are familiar with three pressures that President (Ashraf) Ghani believes will ultimately bring the Taliban to the tables; social pressure which is clearly growing in the wake of the elections, diplomatic pressure from NATO, UN and the entire international community and lastly military pressure,” said Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell, the new deputy commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. 

US Ready To Facilitate Talks Between Govt And Taliban

Alice Wells has said Washington will support all Afghan stakeholders to reach a mutually agreed peace settlement. 

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The US continues to remain reluctant to hold direct talks with the Taliban but Washington does however appear to be optimistic about the prospect of peace following the successful three-day ceasefire between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

A truce between the two sides lasted for the duration of Eid-ul-Fitr but the Taliban immediately took up arms again after the ceasefire ended late Sunday. 

Although President Ashraf Ghani announced a 10-day extension on government’s ceasefire – the Taliban has not yet responded and instead continues to carry out attacks across the country. 

However, on Wednesday, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells told members of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee that Washington was prepared to support direct talks with the insurgent group.

“The United States has made clear that we are prepared to support, facilitate and participate in direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban. We will support all Afghan stakeholders as we work to reach a mutually agreed negotiated settlement that ends the conflict and ensures that Afghanistan is never again used as a safe haven for terrorist groups,” she said. 

“After more than 16 years of war, we see a real opportunity this year to start an Afghan peace process that could lead to a double settlement of the conflict,” she said. 

She called on the Taliban to renounce violence, cut ties with al-Qaeda and endorse the Afghan constitution. 

According to Wells, a negotiating group has also been formed in Washington which will work together with the US embassy in Kabul. 

Wells added that the presence of top Taliban leadership in Pakistan has helped kept these leaders cocooned from the daily pressure of war in Afghanistan. 

“We are also calling on Afghanistan’s neighbors, especially Pakistan, to take additional steps in support of peace. Despite some positive indicators, we have not yet seen Pakistan take the sustained, the decisive steps that we believe it should pursue including the arresting or expelling of Taliban elements who do not come to the negotiating table,” Wells said. 

But the panel’s top Democrat, Rep. Eliot Engel, of New York, questioned why the hard line on direct talks.

“The way I see it is, if we can talk to (North Korea’s leader) Kim Jong Un, certainly we can talk to the Taliban,” Engel said in reference to the US’s stand to not hold direct talks with the Taliban.

Meanwhile, NATO forces in Afghanistan have said that the military pressure on the Taliban is an important element in terms of getting the group to the peace tables. 
 
“You are familiar with three pressures that President (Ashraf) Ghani believes will ultimately bring the Taliban to the tables; social pressure which is clearly growing in the wake of the elections, diplomatic pressure from NATO, UN and the entire international community and lastly military pressure,” said Lieutenant General Richard Cripwell, the new deputy commander of NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. 

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