US Secretary of State to meet Taliban negotiators in Doha

Gulf Today Report

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet negotiators from the Taliban and the Afghan government in Doha on Saturday amid signs of progress in their talks as the United States speeds up its withdrawal.

Taliban and Afghan government negotiators launched peace talks in Doha in September but progress has been slow and violence has raged across Afghanistan regardless.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (right) and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad shake hands in Doha. File/Reuters

The State Department said late on Friday that Pompeo will meet separately with the Afghan government and Taliban negotiation teams in the Gulf state of Qatar.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to end "forever wars," including in Afghanistan, America's longest-ever conflict that began with an invasion to dislodge the Taliban following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

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Pompeo will also see Qatar’s ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, and the foreign minister on his stop in the capital Doha, the Taliban’s base for diplomacy, the State Department said on its public schedule.

US President Donald Trump speaks to the media in Washington. File photo

Earlier this week, the Pentagon said it would soon pull some 2,000 troops out of Afghanistan, speeding up the timeline established in a February agreement between Washington and the Taliban that envisions a full US withdrawal in mid-2021.

Trump has repeatedly vowed to end “forever wars,” including in Afghanistan, America’s longest-ever conflict that began with an invasion to dislodge the Taliban following the Sept.11, 2001 attacks.

President-elect Joe Biden, in a rare point of agreement, also advocates winding down the Afghanistan war although analysts believe he will not be as wedded to a quick timetable.

The Taliban for the first time are speaking to Afghanistan’s government.

The talks started Sept.12 in Doha but almost immediately faltered over disagreements about the agenda, the basic framework of discussions and religious interpretations.