US Set for Negotiations With Taliban, Who Want Commanders Released From Guantanamo Bay
The Taliban and the U.S. government have agreed to hold important talks in Qatar, where they will discuss a possible exchange of detainees as they aim to end the Afghanistan war.
"It's good news. We're very pleased with what has taken place," U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Tuesday at a press briefing, though he declined to answer further questions at that time.
The meeting will focus on ending nearly 12 years of war in Afghanistan, which the Taliban had sought to control but now has said it will abide by U.S. demands and not use the country as a base to threaten others, The Associated Press reported.
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A senior U.S. administration official speaking at a conference call after the announcement was made said that the meeting will take place in the next several days in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
"This is a key milestone on the way to the complete transition of responsibility for security to Afghans by the end of next year," the official, who was not named, said on Tuesday, on the same day that international forces officially handed over control of Afghan national security to local forces, with the expectation that most foreign troops will leave the country by 2014.
"I wish a long-term peace in Afghanistan," Afghan President Harmid Karzai said at the handover ceremony in Kabul.
The Taliban negotiations are expected to be long and complex, but ultimately aimed at providing a peaceful settlement to the war in Afghanistan, which the Unites States and its allies got involved in following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on American soil.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said America's goal in Afghanistan is to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda, to ensure that the country can never again be a safe haven for terrorists. We're doing both at the same time, talking and winding down our fighting in the country."
"You know, these statements represent an important first step towards reconciliation, the outcome of which must be that the Taliban and other insurgent groups break ties with al-Qaeda and violence and accept Afghanistan's constitution including its protections for women and minorities," Psaki added.
For its part, the Taliban has said that any negotiations would be conditional, and demanded the release of its commanders that are currently held in Guantanamo Bay.
"Amir ul Momineen Mullah Omar (the Taliban's leader) is not desperate for talks with the U.S. as the Afghan Taliban are victorious in the battlefield," a senior Taliban official said, according to NBC News.
U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins will be among the U.S. officials meeting with Taliban representatives in the next few days, AP noted.
A Pakistani foreign office spokesperson added in a statement that Pakistan "welcomes the announcement of the opening of a Taliban office in Doha for the purpose of bringing peace to Afghanistan and the region.
"Pakistan has long called for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the Afghan conflict," the spokesperson said.
