Afghan Taleban, US back on negotiation table after a year

KABUL (Reuters) – The Afghan Taleban and the United States have been holding talks in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday.

The Taleban suspended the talks one year ago, blaming “shaky, erratic and vague” US statements.

US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel (C) poses for a picture with female Afghan non-commissioned officers in-training during his visit to the Kabul Military Training Centre in Kabul on March 10. The Afghan Taleban and the United States have been holding talks in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Sunday. AFP

The US government has said it remained committed to political reconciliation involving talks with the Taleban but progress would require agreement between the Afghan government and the insurgents.

“Senior leaders of the Taleban and the Americans are engaged in talks in the Gulf state on a daily basis,” Karzai told a gathering to mark International Women’s Day.

But the Taleban spokesman in Afghanistan, Zabihullah Mujahid, denied that negotiations with the United States had resumed and said no progress had been made since they were suspended.

“The Taleban strongly rejects Karzai’s comments,” he said.

US officials could not be immediately reached for comment.

The Kabul government has been pushing hard to get the Taleban to the negotiating table before most US-led NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of 2014.

Afghan officials have not held direct talks with the militants, who were toppled in 2001 and have proven resilient after more than a decade of war with Western forces.

US diplomats have been seeking to broaden exploratory talks with the Taleban that began clandestinely in Germany in late 2010 after the Taleban offered to open a representative office in Qatar.

US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is in Afghanistan to visit US troops.

Hagel, who arrived on Friday for his first trip abroad as defence secretary, is also due to hold talks with Karzai, whose recent orders to curtail US military activity highlights an often tense relationship with the 66,000 American forces here.

Hagel’s visit also coincides with the passing of a deadline imposed by Karzai for US special forces to leave the province of Wardak, after Karzai accused them of overseeing torture and killings in the area.

US forces have denied involvement in any abuses and it was not clear if they were leaving Wardak by the deadline.

Regional power Pakistan indicated a few months ago that it would support the peace process by releasing Afghan Taleban detainees who may help promote the peace process.

But there have been no tangible signs the move advanced reconciliation.