Reuters, Kabul :
The U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan hopes to cement a peace deal with Taliban insurgents by April 2019, local media reported on Sunday.
The U.S. envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, who is in Kabul to lead talks between the United States, the Taliban and the Afghan government, told local reporters that “he hopes a peace deal is reached before April 20 next year”. Afghanistan is planning to hold presidential elections on April 20, 2019.
The Afghan-born U.S. diplomat said he remains “cautiously optimistic” and “hopeful” about the talks.
The Taliban have held three days of talks with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the Gulf state of Qatar, where the Afghan insurgent group has a political office, a Taliban official and another individual close to the group said Sunday.
The talks are aimed at renewing the Afghan peace process and eventually winding down America’s longest war. Seventeen years after the U.S.-led invasion that ended Taliban rule, the militants control nearly half of Afghanistan and carry out near-daily attacks on local security forces and government officials.
The two individuals said Khairullah Khairkhwah, the former Taliban governor of Herat, and Mohammed Fazl, a former Taliban military chief, attended the marathon talks. The two individuals spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the sensitive negotiations.
U.S. officials could not immediately be reached for comment. The State Department has refused to comment on reported talks with the Taliban.
A third individual with knowledge of the discussions said the Taliban pressed for a postponement of next year’s presidential elections and the establishment of an interim government under a neutral leadership. Abdul Sattar Sirat, an ethnic Tajik and Islamic scholar, was suggested as a candidate to lead an interim administration.
The individual, who also spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks, said Khalilzad wants to reach a settlement within six months, a timescale the Taliban said was too short. Khalilzad also proposed a cease-fire, which the Taliban rejected, the individual said, adding that there was no agreement on the release of prisoners, opening the Taliban office or lifting a Taliban travel ban.
