Kerry calls Karzai to ease tension over Taliban office
Iran Press TV
Thu Jun 20, 2013 12:23AM GMT
US Secretary of State John Kerry has called Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the second time over the past 24 hours in a bid to defuse tension with Afghanistan after Kabul opposed the opening of a Taliban office in Qatar.
The row between Washington and Kabul broke out on Tuesday when the Taliban opened a new political office in the Qatari capital Doha under the name of “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
Karzai says the opening of the office contradicted earlier US security guarantees to his government.
The Afghan president said that his government will not join any US negotiations with the Taliban unless the talks are led by the Afghans.
On Wednesday, Afghan lawmakers also voiced their strong opposition to the opening of the controversial office in Doha.
The legislators also criticized Washington’s decision to hold talks with the militant group in Doha.
The MPs demanded that peace talks be held in Afghanistan and not in Qatar.
Several reports had said the US and the Taliban would meet in Doha on Thursday in a bid to find a political solution to the war that has been raging on for nearly 12 years.
But, the US State Department claimed on Wednesday that it had not scheduled any meeting with the Taliban. Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s High Peace Council made it clear that none of its members will travel to Qatar for talks with the Taliban.
In addition, the Afghan government has suspended strategic talks with Washington to discuss the nature of US presence after foreign troops withdraw in 2014.
The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but after almost 12 years, insecurity remains across the country.
DB/MHB
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