Hamdullah Mohib
Hasib Danish Alikozai
Mohammad Habibzada
VOA News
March 19, 2019
An Afghan official in the country’s National Security Council Tuesday downplayed a Reuter’s report alleging that senior U.S. diplomats have informed Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that his national security adviser is no longer welcome in Washington following his blistering public attacks on the U.S Special Representative for Afghan reconciliation last week.
Abasin Barial, an adviser for strategic relations at the Afghan National Security Council, told VOA that the U.S. and Afghanistan enjoy close relations based on common interests.
“We want to have very good and very close relations with the U.S. [because] we have common goals and objectives. It is very clear that during the last four years, the government of President [Ashraf] Ghani had the best relations with the U.S. government,” Barial told VOA.
“About the Reuters story, I think it is limited to this media outlet. I do not think it has relied that much on the actual issues that U.S. [officials] have discussed regarding this matter. I think we will see more of such analysis and comments [in the media],” he added.
Last week, Afghan National Security Advisor, Hamdullah Mohib criticized U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad over what he said was his approach of keeping the Afghan government in dark in the ongoing peace talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
“We don’t have the kind of transparency that we should have,” he said. “The last people to find out are us.” Mohib told reporters Thursday.
“The reason he is delegitimizing the Afghan government and weakening it, and at the same time elevating the Taliban, can only have one approach. Perhaps all this talk is to create a caretaker government of which he [Khalilzad] will become the viceroy. We are only saying this because that is the perception,” Mohib added.
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