Taliban and the Afghan government to hold talks

Six Taliban prisoners accused of involvement in the killings of American, French and Australian nationals were released from Afghan custody and flown to Doha, Qatar, according to two Afghan officials, paving the way for formal peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government to begin in the coming days.

The high-value prisoners will be placed under temporary house arrest, according to the two officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Key Highlights

• Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will travel to Doha for the talks, President Trump said during a news conference Thursday, adding that “we’re getting along very, very well with the Taliban and very well with Afghanistan.”

• The talks are a key foreign policy objective for the Trump administration as it looks to withdraw U.S. troops from the country.

• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani “wishes success to the negotiating team of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan for achieving lasting peace and stability in the country, which is the long-standing desire of our people,” the presidential palace said in a Twitter statement. Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said in a tweet that the country’s negotiating team will travel to Doha on Friday.

• Following the arrival of the prisoners in Doha, the Taliban announced that it was ready to begin official, direct peace talks with the Afghan government. Taliban spokesman Muhammad Naeem Wardak said in a tweet that the initial meeting would be held Saturday in Doha.

• The announcements follow six months of delays, most recently over a handful of high-value Taliban prisoners accused of killing American, French and Australian nationals.

• The talks were mandated by the deal signed by the United States and the Taliban in February and were to have begun in March. Political turmoil in Kabul and escalating violence countrywide have also contributed to delays.

SOURCE: BBC News

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