We're meeting US officials again in UAE, says Taliban
Islamabad: The Taliban say they are holding "another" meeting on Monday with US officials, this time in the United Arab Emirates and also involving Saudi, Pakistani and Emirati representatives in the
latest attempt to bring a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 17-year war.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid offered no further details.
Khalil Minawi, director of Afghanistan's state-run Bakhtar news agency, also confirmed the meeting. He said on Twitter that officials from the United States, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UAE held meetings Sunday ahead of "the Pakistani-sponsored U.S.-Taliban meeting."
While Afghan officials are not expected to attend Monday's meeting, their presence in the UAE is a significant step in efforts to get the two sides talking. So far, the Taliban have refused to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, calling it a puppet of America and insisting only on negotiating with the U.S.
While the U.S. State Department has neither denied nor confirmed previous meetings with the Taliban, Washington's special peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad previously said he has held several meetings with all Afghans involved in the protracted conflict a reference that would include the Taliban, who control or hold say in nearly half of Afghanistan.
Washington has spent 1 trillion in Afghanistan since the US-led coalition ousted the Taliban in 2001. The war there has become America's longest war. A Taliban statement last month said they held three consecutive days of talks with Khalilzad in Qatar, a Mideast country where the insurgent group maintains a political office.
Afterward, Khalilzad went to Kabul where he urged Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to cobble together a team that could hold talks with the Taliban with the intent of reaching an agreement on a "roadmap for the future of Afghanistan." Khalilzad said he would like to see this agreement reached before Afghan presidential elections, scheduled for next April.
Since his appointment in September, Khalilzad has tried to jumpstart peace talks and has made several tours of the region.
