Qatar Initiative: ‘Taliban to reopen talks with US’
Resumption of talks depends on how US repairs trust damaged by a string of incidents, says Taliban's former commander.
KABUL:
The Afghan Taliban will eventually resume talks with the US, a former commander said, but it will depend on how Washington repairs trust damaged by a string of incidents, notably the killing of 16 Afghans blamed on a US soldier.
The Taliban have suspended the dialogue, blaming the US for failing to deliver on a promise to transfer five of its leaders held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay.
Syed Mohammed Akbar Agha, a senior commander and cousin of the Taliban’s main negotiator, said the tentative secret discussions with the Americans to lay the ground for formal peace negotiations had only been suspended, not ended.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2012.
The Afghan Taliban will eventually resume talks with the US, a former commander said, but it will depend on how Washington repairs trust damaged by a string of incidents, notably the killing of 16 Afghans blamed on a US soldier.
The Taliban have suspended the dialogue, blaming the US for failing to deliver on a promise to transfer five of its leaders held by the US military in Guantanamo Bay.
Syed Mohammed Akbar Agha, a senior commander and cousin of the Taliban’s main negotiator, said the tentative secret discussions with the Americans to lay the ground for formal peace negotiations had only been suspended, not ended.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 27th, 2012.