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MONITORING (SW) – Sources tell the media that a six-member delegation is headed to Qatar to represent the Afghan government.
The US will sign an agreement with the Taliban "if and only if" the week-long reduction in violence is successful, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.
The US is edging toward a peace agreement that could trigger the long-anticipated reduction of US troops serving in America's longest war. Under the plan, the American military presence would be reduced to 8,600 troops from the current 12,000 to 13,000 over the course of 135 days, according to two sources familiar with the agreement.
Speaking from the State Department Tuesday, Pompeo said that "so far, the reduction in violence is working."
Pompeo said that the "conditions-based withdrawal," if it comes to bear, "sets a high bar for the things that will take place in order for America to ensure that we can accomplish both of those missions: a peace and reconciliation solution in Afghanistan and ensuring that the homeland continues to be as risk free as we can possibly make it."
According to CNN, a signed deal would create another success for Donald Trump to leverage during his reelection campaign as a major foreign policy platform of his first campaign was a promise to end US involvement in overseas wars.
Developing the Afghan negotiating team to send to the intra-Afghan talks has been deeply challenging but the tentative plan is for each side — the Afghans and the Taliban — to have 15 representatives, sources told CNN. The Afghan negotiating team will consist of five people from Ghani's government and 10 people from civil society and other political groups.
There is a short list of people being considered to lead the talks, sources told CNN. Some of the names under consideration include George Bizos, a former lawyer for Nelson Mandela; Mawran Muasher, a Jordanian foreign minister; Federica Mogherini, a former top EU foreign affairs official; and a prosecutor from the Philippines.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilizad, the top US envoy in the Taliban talks, could also potentially be at the table to lead the discussion, sources said. Khalilizad would like to fill the role, given the extensive work he has put into the negotiations over the last year, the sources said. However, there has to be a consensus on both sides and Khalilizad is expected to be rejected by the Afghan government.On Sunday, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien said that the US would not sign a peace agreement if the Taliban did not hold up their end of the deal to reduce violence in the country.
"If the Taliban does not live up to their agreement on the reduction of violence plan, then we'll take a very careful look at it," O'Brien said on CBS. "And I think it'd be unlikely that we'd- we'd sign a peace treaty, but we're not going to reduce troops to a level below what is necessary to protect American interests and our partners in Afghanistan."
Yet it appears that the Trump administration is ready to justify a reduction in US troops, no matter what deal they are able to finalize with the Taliban.
Earlier this month, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he was confident that reducing troops to the level of 8,600 would put the US presence at a level officials believe can "accomplish our tasks."
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