US lauds army chief’s role in Kabul-Taliban talks

ISLAMABAD:

America’s top diplomat for Pakistan and Afghanistan has lauded Islamabad’s role in facilitating face-to-face talks between Kabul and the Taliban.

In a meeting with army chief General Raheel Sharif on Saturday, US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) Daniel Feldman appreciated in particular the role of the army chief in the recently-held peace talks.

“The US SRAP met the chief of army staff [and] discussed regional security and stability,” the military’s top spokesman said in a post on microblogging site Twitter.

“[Feldman] appreciated Pakistan’s positive role, and especially Gen Raheel, in bringing all parties to [the] peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” Maj Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa, the director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in another tweet. According to Maj Gen Bajwa, the US diplomat ‘hoped with all sincerity’ the talks to bring lasting peace in Afghanistan would resume soon. The second round of crucial talks between the Afghan government and Taliban representatives was postponed following the announcement that Taliban supremo Mullah Omar had died two years ago.

“In view of the reports regarding the death of Mullah Omar and the resulting uncertainty, and at the request of the Afghan Taliban leadership, the second round of the Afghan peace talks, which was scheduled to be held in Pakistan on July 31 [Friday], is being postponed,” Foreign Office spokesperson Qazi Khalilluah said on Thursday. He added that Pakistan and other friendly countries hoped the Taliban leadership would stay engaged in the peace process.

The first round of peace talks took place in the popular hill town resort of Murree, which is an hour’s drive from the Islamabad. It was the first formal and direct contact between the two sides and the process had the backing of all major players, including the US, China and Pakistan.

Both sides were expected to discuss the possibility of a ceasefire by the Afghan Taliban in the second round.


Published in The Express Tribune, August 2^nd, 2015.