By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 30, 2020 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – The man heading Afghanistan’s peace efforts said Iran did not attend the ceremony marking the opening of talks with the Taliban due to tensions with the United States. “Iran was invited…Sometimes their relations with the United States which [are] under a lot of tension at
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 30, 2020 Afghanistan’s top peace negotiator says Afghanistan and Pakistan are on the threshold of a new relationship characterized by “mutual respect, sincere cooperation, and shared prosperity.” Abdullah Abdullah, who is on a bridge-building mission to Pakistan, said the neighboring countries should shun the suspicion, rhetoric, and conspiracy theories that
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 29, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Afghanistan’s senior leadership has told its team in Doha to be flexible in negotiating with the Taliban in order to seize the opportunity to end the country’s conflict, according to Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation. “We’ve asked our own delegation,
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 28,2020 ISLAMABAD – Abdullah Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s peacemaking High Council for National Reconciliation, has begun a three-day official visit to Pakistan. Abdullah is undertaking his first visit to the neighboring country in more than a decade amid peace negotiations between representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban insurgents underway in Qatar. Officials in Islamabad said
By Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News September 25, 2020 ISLAMABAD – Even as Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reiterated his demand for a cease-fire, few watching the peace talks in Doha expected a positive response from the Taliban. “[T]he Afghan people have a clear and urgent priority: a cease-fire. An urgent end to the violence will more than
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 23, 2020 A number of Taliban prisoners who were released by the Afghan government as a condition for peace talks have returned to the battlefield, lead Kabul negotiator Abdullah Abdullah has said. Abdullah, the head of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, said negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar have
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 13, 2020 Qatar’s ruler helped launch the second day of long-awaited Afghan peace talks in Doha on September 13 between representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban militants, but reports of ongoing clashes back in Afghanistan were a reminder of obstacles ahead. The first day included a formal ceremony and
Ayaz Gul VOA News September 12, 2020 ISLAMABAD – The United States pressed Afghanistan’s warring factions Saturday to approach their first-ever direct peace talks with an intent to strike a power-sharing deal that would accommodate “competing views” and permanently end decades of bloodshed in the country. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made the remarks
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 11, 2020 U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and an Afghan delegation on September 11 arrived in Qatar where negotiations between the Taliban and Afghanistan’s government are scheduled to begin the next day. Pompeo said on his way to the Qatari capital, Doha, that upcoming Afghan peace talks are likely
Tolo News: Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council of National Reconciliation, speaking at an event on Tuesday marking the 19th anniversary of the death of Ahmad Shah Massoud, national hero of Afghanistan, said that the peace negotiation team representing the Afghan is expected to sit for peace talks with the Taliban in the