Afghan Government, Taliban Reach 'Milestone' Deal In Peace Talks
By Radio Free Afghanistan December 02, 2020
KABUL -- Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives say they have agreed on a preliminary deal to press on with peace talks, their first written agreement in 19 years of war.
The December 2 announcement was considered a breakthrough because it gives negotiators time to move on to more substantive issues. That includes talks aimed at a cease-fire.
"The current negotiations of both negotiation teams show that there is willingness among Afghans to reach a sustainable peace and both sides are committed to continue their sincere efforts to reach a sustainable peace in Afghanistan," Nader Nadery, a member of the Afghan government's negotiating team, said in a post to Twitter.
A representative for the Taliban posted a nearly identical statement also on Twitter.
A joint statement from both sides said "a joint working committee was tasked to prepare the draft topics for the agenda" of peace talks.
The deal comes after months of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha. The two sides remain at war, and Taliban attacks on Afghan government forces have continued.
The agreement is "a step forward towards beginning the negotiations on the main issues, including a comprehensive cease-fire as the key demand of the Afghan people for a lasting peace," Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi wrote on Twitter, quoting President Ashraf Ghani.
Both the United States and Qatar called the agreement a "milestone."
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo congratulated the two sides on "perseverance and willingness to find common ground" and said the United States would "work hard with all sides in pursuit of a serious reduction of violence and cease-fire."
Washington's special representative for Afghan peace, Zalmay Khalilzad, tweeted that the agreement "demonstrates that the negotiating parties can agree on tough issues."
"The people of Afghanistan now expect rapid progress on a political roadmap and a cease-fire," he wrote in a separate tweet.
A U.S.-backed government has held power in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in 2001, though the Taliban have in recent years gained control over wide parts of the country, and the government in Kabul is considered weak.
Under a U.S.-Taliban deal signed in Doha in February, all foreign forces are scheduled to leave Afghanistan by May 2021 in exchange for security guarantees from the militant group.
U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to speed up the U.S. withdrawal, saying he wants all American soldiers home by Christmas.
The Trump administration has announced that 2,000 American troops will exit Afghanistan by mid-January, leaving just 2,500 behind.
With reporting by Reuters
Source: https://gandhara.rferl.org/a/30980679.html
Copyright (c) 2020. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
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