MONITORING (SW) – The U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan on Tuesday thanked Germany and Qatar for agreeing to host the upcoming July 7-8 intra-Afghan Dialogue Conference.
Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, said this in a series of tweets following the ongoing seventh round of talks with the Taliban in the Qatari capital, Doha. He said this dialogue is an essential element of the four-part peace framework and an important step in advancing the pace process. "Mutual acceptance, seeking consensus, and agreeing to resolve political differences without force is what is needed to learn from the tragedy of the last 40 years. I wish participants success", he tweeted.
The four-part also includes withdrawal of the foreign troops, ceasefire and intra-Afghan dialogue.
This comes as at least 100 people, including over 50 children, got injured in a Taliban-claimed suicide car bombing in Kabul on Tuesday.
Suhail Shaheen, spokesman for the Taliban’s Qatar office, said on Tuesday talks would not be held with the Afghan government. In a social media post, he said talks would instead be held with the ‘Afghan sides’ after a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign troops is agreed upon during the presence of international observers.
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