Matrix Report
A report by USA’s Voice of America (VOA) has suggested that both Taliban and the US Special Envoy for Afghan Peace Zalmay Khalilzad ‘expect to sign a peace deal’ at the next meeting between both the parties.
The VOA story reports that the ‘Taliban is hopeful an agreement will be reached with the United States to end the 18-year-old war in Afghanistan when the two adversaries meet later this week in Qatar for a crucial round of peace negotiations’.
Suhail Shaheen, a spokesperson of the Taliban negotiating team, told the VOA that ‘the two sides have worked hard for nearly one year and almost drafted a text in which both parties have addressed all major issues’. Shaheen further said that ‘we (the Taliban) hope to reach an agreement on the troops’ withdrawal’.
On the other hand, while discussing the recent updates on the peace process on Twitter, Zalmay Khalilzad wrote, ‘Wrapping up my most productive visit to #Afghanistan since I took this job as Special Rep. The US and Afghanistan have agreed on next steps. And a negotiating team and technical support group are being finalized. I’m off to Doha, with a stop in Islamabad. In Doha, if the Taliban do their part, we will do ours, and conclude the agreement we have been working on’.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, however, has also said that they would maintain Islamic administration system in the country. Zabihullah Mujahid said that ‘Islamic Emirate was a government and a system which had religious legitimacy, adding they won’t accept any other system’.
The Afghan peace process has gained pace in the recent months, with US President Donald Trump aiming for a quick US withdrawal from the country before the next US presidential elections in 2020. The US president believes that a smooth withdrawal from Afghanistan will help his 2020 campaign, especially because it was a major election promise made by Trump before coming to power in 2016.
