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Afghan Diplomat Still 'Optimistic' About Taliban Talks

by Ayaz Gul March 04, 2016

A senior Afghan diplomat said Friday that he remained "optimistic" that peace talks with Taliban insurgents would start within days, dismissing speculation they would be delayed.

A four-nation coordination group working to end the conflict in Afghanistan said February 23 that a first round of direct negotiations between the warring sides was 'expected to take place by the first week of March 2016.'

The four-way talks are expected to involve diplomats from Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and the United States, as well as Taliban representatives. Last week, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha said the group was "unaware" of any planned talks with Kabul.

Hazrat Omar Zakhilwal, Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan, insisted Friday that 'the first week of March was indicative" and that he still expected talks to start within days.

'I am still optimistic that talks will start as indicated because there is a lot that is happening in the background,' Zakhilwal told VOA. He did not elaborate.

'No headway'

A Pakistani security official with knowledge of efforts Islamabad is making to try to persuade the Taliban to send representatives from its Qatar-based political office for the long-awaited talks said "no headway has been achieved so far."

The official, who requested anonymity, told VOA the talks were "not happening this week because no one from their [the Taliban] side has yet agreed' to come to Islamabad.

Speaking at Washington's Council on Foreign Relations earlier this week, Sartaj Azia, the Pakistani prime minister's adviser on foreign affairs, also suggested the Afghan reconciliation process might not happen soon.

"We hope in the coming days – 10, 15 days – the first such meeting could take place between the Afghan Taliban and the Afghan government. And it is not going to be a very easy or smooth process," Aziz said.

He went on to admit the Taliban leadership is residing in Pakistan, and he explained the influence Islamabad has with the Afghan insurgency.

'We have some influence on them because their leadership is in Pakistan, and they get some medical facilities. Their families are here,' Aziz said. 'So we can use those levers to pressurize them to say, 'Come to the table.' "

The admission marked the first time in the 15-year-old Afghan war that a Pakistani leader publicly acknowledged the presence of Taliban leaders on Islamabad's side of the border, something that critics say has been an open secret for years.