Pakistan to present list of Taliban open to peace talks

Senior officials from the four countries are meeting in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to launch an effort they hope will lead to negotiations with the Taliban, which is fighting to impose its strict brand of Islamist rule and is not expected at Monday’s talks.

The talks do not include the Taliban, who have been battling the U.S.-backed government for almost 15 years and have recently stepped up attacks.

A previous peace process in 2015 ground to an abrupt halt after it was disclosed that the Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar, had been dead for two years.

Barnett Rubin, a long-time adviser to the US government on Afghanistan and current senior fellow at the Center on International Cooperation with New York University, probably best summed it up in an email interview on the eve of the talks, saying: “Both the Afghan government and the official Taliban leadership in Pakistan are committed to continuing the war unless the other side agrees to their framework for negotiation”.

A senior Taliban commander said Sirajuddin Haqqani, Mansour’s deputy and the head of the feared Haqqani network blamed for a series of suicide attacks in Kabul, may take part.

The two diplomats argued that USA and Afghanistan should focus less on fostering talks and more on persuading Pakistan to take action against those engaged in terrorism and violence.

Announced in December the talks in Islamabad come as the Taliban’s insurgency intensifies, testing the capacity of Afghanistan’s overstretched military and placing pressure on Pakistan to rein in its one-time proxies.

Mr. Khalilzad was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iran during the Bush administration, while Mr. Dobbins was the Special U.S. Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan under the current Obama administration.

Whether the Taliban, increasingly dominant on the battlefield since the withdrawal of most worldwide troops by the end of 2014 yet riven by factional infighting, eventually joins the talks is far from clear.

He termed the process as of great significance to define the overall direction, goals and create a conducive atmosphere for the direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.

The state department spokesman also said that a strategy would be decided as to how the reconciliatory process could be moved forward.

Further, a Taliban leader said Maulvi Alam had strong influence in Zabul province and also sheltered many foreign fighters.

“Taliban representatives will not participate in the peace process”, he maintained.

“The district has been entirely captured by the Afghan forces, the enemy suffering heavy casualties have been defeated”, it said.

Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed stated that stability in Afghanistan is the key to regional peace and security.