Afghanistan Times
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AT News Report
KABUL: Negotiations going on between US representatives and Taliban negotiators in Qatar where they have approached agreements on some initial issues over peace and are working on a draft of their agreements, Taliban side said.
The fifth round of talks between US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban negotiating team headed by the group’s co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar began on Tuesday. The two parties resumed negotiations on Saturday after a break on Thursday and Friday to consult and take instructions from their seniors.
Sohail Shahin, Taliban’s spokesman for their political office based in Doha, said Monday that the two sides had agreed over the US withdrawal but they have still problems over the date of the drawdown.
The US and Taliban had talked on the US withdrawal and that Afghanistan would not be used as safe haven against the US and other West countries, but this time they are working on the draf of agreement.
Taliban urge that the US pulls its soldiers out of Afghanistan quickly, while Washington wants more time. This has made negotiations complicated.
Wahid Mojda, a political analyst says that Taliban want the US go out of the country in a hurry, but the US says it would draw down within five years. “This has made the talks complicated.”
Maulavi Qalamoddin, a Taliban official says that the negotiations should reach an agreement because foreign troops’ withdrawal was directly related to peace process.
The US side of negotiations has not commented on the talks.
The US officials have reportedly said that conflicts between India and Pakistan should not affect the Afghan peace process.
