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NEWS / QATAR

Afghan Taliban cancel peace

talks with US officials in Qatar
The two-day meeting starting Wednesday would have been
fourth in a series between Taliban and US special envoy.
8 Jan 2019  

The Afghan Taliban have cancelled peace talks with

MORE ON AFGHANISTAN
officials from the United States in Qatar this week,
following disagreements over the agenda of the 'The victory was so strong':
Afghans celebrate Soviet
meeting, the group confirmed on Tuesday. pullout
today
The two-day talks were scheduled to begin on
US vows to work with allies
Wednesday in capital, Doha. The Taliban had on any Afghanistan
rejected the participation of Afghan government withdrawal
yesterday
officials in the deliberations.
Taliban announce surprise
Taliban have rejected numerous requests from talks with US in Pakistani
capital
regional powers to allow Afghan officials to take part
yesterday
in the talks, insisting that the US is their main
Cricket helping Afghans cope
adversary in the 17-year war and that Kabul is a with trauma of war
"puppet" regime. 2 days ago

The Taliban, Afghanistan's largest armed group

READ MORE
which was toppled from power by a US-led invasion
Afghan Taliban officials: 'US
in 2001, called off their meeting with the US officials agrees to discuss troops
in Saudi Arabia this week following Riyadh's pullout'

insistence on bringing the Western-backed Afghan

government to the table.

The talks will be the fourth in a series between Taliban leaders and US special envoy,
Zalmay Khalilzad.

"After mutual consultations, we are going to meet US officials in Doha on Wednesday.

The meeting will continue for two days - Wednesday and Thursday," said a senior
member of the Afghan Taliban on condition of anonymity.

Pakistani and Iranian officials said they were trying to persuade the Taliban to meet
Afghan officials.

Another senior Taliban leader confirmed the Qatar meeting and said no other country
would be involved.

At the request of the US, a Taliban office was established in Doha in 2013 to facilitate
peace talks.

But the office had to be closed after the Taliban came under pressure for hoisting the
same flag at their office that the group used during its rule in Afghanistan.
 Subsequently, the then Afghan President Hamid Karzai halted all peace efforts, saying
the Doha office was presenting itself as an unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.

The flag has since been taken down and the office has remained empty with no official
announcements of a possible reopening.

Talks with the Taliban have since been taking place elsewhere in Doha.

US plans to withdraw troops

The war in Afghanistan is America's longest overseas military intervention. It has cost
Washington nearly $1 trillion and killed tens of thousands of people.

In 2017, US President Donald Trump increased the

OPINION
number of his country's troops in Afghanistan as
The Afghan government
part of a new strategy against the Taliban.
should not be sidelined in
peace talks
There are now about 14,000 US soldiers in the
by Safiullah Taye
country. The Taliban has previously said the
presence of foreign troops was the biggest obstacle
to peace in Afghanistan.

Reports last month about Trump's plans to withdraw thousands of troops from
Afghanistan triggered uncertainty in Kabul, which depends on the US and other foreign
powers for military support and training.

The US embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment,
said the Reuters news agency.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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