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KABUL: Fresh demands made by the United States have caused the peace deal with Taliban delayed, a Taliban spokesman said.
Suhail Shahin, spokesman for militants’ political office in Qatar, said Saturday that they had indicated agreement to pave the ground for signing peace deal with the United States, but new demands posed by Washington, caused a delay in the peace negotiations.
People familiar with the peace talks also say that the US envoy for Afghan peace, Zalmay Khalilzad had made new demands to Taliban.
Taliban’s political office says that talks with the US were postponed and the process was quite stopped.
Shahin said that Taliban consultations on the deal signing were done, but the United States made additional demands.
“We agree to provide a good sphere for the deal signing, but Americans have made extra demands that hampered peace negotiations,” Shahin told the Voice of America.
The US negotiator Khalilzad was said to have changed offers during the negotiations. When Taliban accepted violence reduction, Khalilzad added new demands.
Khalilzad came to Kabul on Saturday after a visit to Pakistan to discuss recent progresses on peace in meeting with Afghan leaders.
Sources close to Taliban say that Americans try to occupy public opinion somehow regarding the Afghan peace process, but the date and place for signing the deal would be clear after Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
The sources say if political parties in Afghanistan including the government agree to the reduction in violence, a cease fire would be formally observed during the intra-Afghan dialogue.
