Michael Hughes: The peace-in-name-only agreement U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has been negotiating with Pakistan’s foot soldiers if implemented could accomplish the miraculous by potentially making Afghanistan even more unstable – a notion supported by risks highlighted in a newly-released U.S. inspector general’s report. The risks, however, might be understated given Khalilzad wants to play the
By RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan April 2, 2019 KABUL — The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban has played down recent tensions with the Western-backed Kabul government, telling RFE/RL that he hopes 2019 will be the “year of peace.” In an interview in the Afghan capital on April 1, Zalmay Khalilzad said
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 1, 2019 The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan has returned to Kabul ahead of a new round of talks. Fereydoun Khuzon, deputy spokesman for the Afghan presidential administration, told RFE/RL on April 1 that he expects the visit of
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 27, 2019 The U.S. envoy seeking a peace deal with the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of war in Afghanistan is heading back to the region amid growing tensions between Washington and Kabul over the absence of the Afghan government from the talks. “I’m on the road again to
Tolo News: “About the issue that how much the Afghan government was in the loop about the US-Taliban talks in Qatar… based on my judgment, it (the Afghan government) was in the loop. Mr. (Zalmay) Khalilzad had contacted President (Ashraf) Ghani at least once every day and had briefed him, but what has been discussed between
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 23, 2019 WASHINGTON — U.S. officials have “exchanged views” with representatives of Russia and China on the current status of the Afghan peace process, the State Department says. In a statement on March 22, the department said representatives met in Washington on March 21-22 and “discussed common efforts to bring
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
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 19, 2019 A senior U.S. diplomat has told Afghanistan’s president that U.S. officials will no longer deal with his national security adviser, Reuters news agency reports, citing four knowledgeable U.S. and Afghan sources. The report published on March 18 said the diplomat told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani that the United
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 14, 2019 A senior Afghan official has accused the U.S. special envoy to his country, Zalmay Khalilzad, of “delegitimizing” the Kabul government by excluding it from peace negotiations with the Taliban and acting like a “viceroy.” The comments on March 14 by Hamdullah Mohib, who serves as Afghan President Ashraf
1TV: Cheryl Bernard (wife of Zalmay Khalilzad) said Afghan women need to recognize that the Taliban is not their only or worst problem. Deep-seated cultural values and traditions, such as the so-called Pashtun “honor code,” are far more devastating to women’s lives, and most of these are clearly un-Islamic or even anti-Islamic, she said. Cheryl