5-Jan-2012 - Taliban to Open Qatar Office in Step Toward Peace Talks

Visted 1 times

The step was a sharp reversal of the Taliban’s longstanding public denials that it was involved or interested in any talks to end its insurgency in Afghanistan, and a major step to revive a reconciliation effort that stalled in September, nfl headset with the assassination of the head of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council. In a statement, Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said that along with a preliminary deal to set up the office in Qatar, the group was asking that Taliban detainees held at the American prison in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, be released. Mr. Mujahid did not say when the Qatar office would be opened, or give specifics about the prisoners the Taliban wanted freed. “We are at the moment, besides our powerful presence inside the country, ready to establish a political office outside the country to come to an understanding with other nations,” the statement said, citing “an initial agreement with Qatar and other related sides.” American officials have said in recent months that the opening of a Taliban mission would be the single biggest step forward for peace efforts that have been plagued by false starts. The most embarrassing came in November 2010, when it emerged that an impostor had fooled Western officials into thinking he represented the Taliban and then had disappeared with hundreds of thousands of dollars used to woo him. The official killed in September, Burhanuddi Rabbani, had been greeting a supposed Taliban negotiator when the man detonated a bomb in his turban. The opening of an office in Qatar is meant to give Afghan and Western peace negotiators an “address” where they can openly contact legitimate Taliban intermediaries. That would open the way for confidence-building measures that Washington hopes to push forward in the coming months. Chief among them, American officials said, is the possibility of transferring a number of “high-risk” detainees — including some with ties to Al Qaeda — nhl jerseys from china to Afghan custody from Guantánamo Bay. The prisoners would then presumably be freed some time in the future. American officials said they would consider transferring only those prisoners the Afghan authorities request. Among the names being discussed are Muhammad Fazl, the former Taliban deputy defense minister; two former provincial governors, Khairullah Khairkhwa of Herat and Noorullah Nori of Balkh; Abdul Haq Wasiq, a former top Taliban intelligence official; and one of the Taliban’s top financiers, Muhammad Nabi. Mr. Fazl is accused of having commanded forces that killed thousands of Shiite Muslims, who are a minority in Afghanistan, while the Taliban ruled the country. The American officials said that another idea under consideration was the establishment of cease-fire zones within Afghanistan, although that prospect was more uncertain and distant. The officials asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks. A Western diplomat in Kabul, who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the talks, said  Tuesday that the Taliban announcement was a product of 10 months of on-again, off-gain talks with the man, Tayeb Agha, a former secretary to Mullah Omar. The talks were shrouded in secrecy in large part to protect Mr. Agha and other Taliban intermediaries. The biggest concern was that the government of Pakistan, where most of the Taliban’s leadership is believed to reside, would obstruct any talks in which it did not play a direct role. Pakistan has in the past arrested wholesale nba jerseys insurgent leaders who sought to open talks without its blessing. Afghan and American officials have long feared that Pakistan aims to use the peace process, which it says it supports, as a way to solidify a dominant position in Afghanistan. Pakistan is believed to have backed the Taliban for much of the past decade, for the same reason. The Qatar office is seen as a way of lessening Pakistani influence over the talks. American officials have said for years that the war in Afghanistan would ultimately require a political solution, not a military one. The “surge” of additional troops ordered by President Obama at the end of 2009, and the sharp increase in kill-and-capture missions against the Taliban’s midlevel leadership by special operations forces over the past two years have largely been aimed at getting the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Comments (0)Post Comment View Whole Blog