Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News
KABUL: Political analysts accuse Pakistan of hindering peace negotiations between the US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and Taliban negotiators.
The analysts said Saturday that Khalilzad’s frequent trips to Islamabad show that his negotiations with Taliban face an impasse.
Khalilzad went to Islamabad on Friday to discuss Taliban
negotiations in meetings with Pakistani officials.Pakistan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Khalilzad met with
minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and shared his talks with Taliban. The ministry
added that peace deal between Khalilzad and Taliban would pave the ground for
intra-Afghan negotiations.
Lawmaker Ghulam Farooq Majroh, said Khalilzad’s repetitive meetings with
Pakistani officials illustrates an impasse in the talks, adding that Pakistan
as the main supporter of Taliban and main element of Afghan crisis, doesn’t
want to help the process.
“Khalilzad knows this fact that Pakistan will not allow Taliban sign peace deal
with him until it sees its interests ensured,” said Majroh.
Khalilzad came to Kabul after Pakistan to meet Afghan officials on the recent
progresses of meetings with Taliban.
The two sides were said earlier to have got closed to finalize peace deal.
Majroh believes that President Ghani’s statement on supporting Pashtoon Tahfuz
Movement, hurt peace process.
He said that Afghanistan’s support of Pashtoons in Pakistan is seen as an alarm
by Islamabad who doesn’t let Afghans gain peace unless it comes under
increasing pressures from the United States.
A US official said lately that close relations between Taliban and Pakistani
government and army should be openly admitted.
The official acknowledged that some people in Pakistan’s security organs want
to continue support of extremist groups in Afghanistan.
According to the official, the possible deal between the US and Taliban would
be only on the paper and the militants would not be able to meet Washington’s
demands in fight against terrorism.
