Pompeo doesn't rule out new Taliban talks after Trump announces cancellation

In Saturday bombshell US president abruptly called off secret meeting with Taliban at Camp David

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday did not rule out reopening talks with the Taliban if they make a "significant commitment," after President Donald Trump cancelled a secret meeting with their leaders at his Camp David retreat.

Pompeo said Trump had not decided whether he would still withdraw US troops -- but warned the Taliban of renewed military pressure if they keep up attacks.

"I hope it's the case the Taliban will change their behavior and recommit to things we've talking about. In the end this will be resolved through a series of conversations," Pompeo told ABC television program "This Week."

Trump, in a Saturday evening bombshell, said he had invited Taliban leaders and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to meet him Sunday at Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington.

Trump said he was canceling the talks because the Taliban, who have never halted their campaign of violence, had killed a US serviceman in a car bombing on Thursday in Kabul.

Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019

....an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people. I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn’t, they....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 7, 2019

The secret talks would have come after months of diplomatic wrangling between the US and the Taliban over a deal that would allow Washington to begin withdrawing its troops from Afghanistan.

But after the Taliban killed 12 people in a single attack in Kabul this week, including a US soldier, Trump said he “immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations”.

His announcement left the withdrawal deal shrouded in uncertainty.



"We need a significant commitment," Pompeo said of the Taliban in a separate interview with CNN when asked if the United States could restart negotiations.

"If the Taliban don't behave, if they don't deliver on the commitments they made to us for weeks and in some cases months, the president of the United States is not going to reduce the pressure," he said.

"We're not going to reduce our support for the Afghan security forces that have fought so hard," he said.

Afghan government’s response

Afghanistan praised the “sincere efforts of its allies” on Sunday after US President Donald Trump said he had called off negotiations with the Taliban, apparently ending a year-long diplomatic push to exit America’s longest war.

“The Afghan government, in relation to the peace, appreciates the sincere efforts of its allies and is committed to working together with the United States and other allies to bring lasting peace,” said a statement from President Ashraf Ghani’s office.

The US-backed government in Kabul had eyed the deal with deep unease and long complained of being sidelined from the talks.

“We have always insisted that real peace can only be achieved if the Taliban stop killing Afghans and accept a ceasefire, and face-to-face talks with the Afghan government,” the statement from Ghani’s office said.

A presidential election is scheduled for September 28, and Kabul “insists” the polls should be held to establish “a strong, lawful and legitimate government so that it can take forward the peace process with wisdom”.

Taliban Response

The Taliban said the US "will be harmed more than anyone" but left the door open for future negotiations.

"We still... believe that the American side will come back to this position... Our fight for the past 18 years should have proven to the Americans that we will not be satisfied until we witness the complete end of the occupation," the group said in a statement released on Twitter by spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid.

The statement said the insurgents had "finalised" a deal with the US that had been expected to allow Washington to begin withdrawing troops in exchange for security promises from the Taliban.

It added that both sides had been preparing for the deal to be announced and signed when Trump tweeted late Saturday that he had "called off peace negotiations".

Trump had cited a Taliban attack in Kabul on Thursday which killed 12 people including a US soldier as his reason for calling off the talks, including a secret meeting with the insurgents at Camp David in Maryland planned for this weekend.

But the Taliban dismissed his reasoning in their statement, saying it showed "neither experience nor patience", and accused the US of killing "hundreds of Afghans" in the fighting.

"Americans will be harmed more than any other," by Trump's decision, the statement said, adding that the US's "credibility will be harmed, their anti-peace stance will become more visible to the world, their casualties and financial losses will increase, and the US role in international political interaction will be discredited even further."