KABUL (SW) – Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban's political bureau in Qatar, has said the intra-Afghan talks will only begin when a deal is signed for the complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.
In a series of tweets, he said after resolution of this issue, all aspects of the intra-Afghan dialogue will be addressed.
This comes as the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, recently said during a joint news conference with Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff that the U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan until security is restored.
But, a number of figures close to the Taliban in Afghanistan say the Taliban first wants to complete their talks with the U.S. and only then wishes to start talks with the all Afghan factions.
Syed Akbar Agha, a figure close to the Taliban, said the ongoing talks are not likely to be affected by an agreement or lack of it over the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan. According to him, signing an agreement on the complete withdrawal of foreign troops does not mean the immediate withdrawal of foreigners from Afghanistan.
Earlier, Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. State Department's special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, tweeted that the Afghan peace talks had reached a critical stage. But no word yet on when the new round of US-Taliban talks will begin.
There are no announcement since on the resumption of talks in the Qatari capital, Doha.
ENDS
