Afghanistan Times
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KABUL: The United States and Taliban negotiators have not yet gained an agreement on a general ceasefire in their fresh round of negotiations going on in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar.
Sources close to Taliban told the Kabul News broadcaster on Tuesday that the US chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad was urging a general truce, while the negotiators from the insurgents say they would observe a ceasefire with the US troops after the peace deal was done and later on, the general armistice would be discussed during talks with the government of Afghanistan and Afghan politicians.
People familiar with the ongoing negotiations say that an intra-Afghan negotiation would begin soon after the US deal was gained.
Khalilzad restarted the stalled talks with Taliban in the weekend after a visit to Kabul where he met President Ashraf Ghani.
Taliban spokesmen had earlier said that the talks would begin from the stage where it was stopped.
Meanwhile, former Taliban officials say that emphasizing on the general ceasefire was an obstacle despite many progresses in the negotiations.
A Taliban spokesman had said on Monday that the intra-Afghan talks would be held 10 days after the settlement with the US was signed.
Germany is expected to host the intra-Afghan talks after a planned program in China was postponed.
