US election could decide fate of 70,000 Afghans
The Taliban, an ultraconservative Islamic political group, retook control of Kabul a little more than three years ago, dashing many Afghans’ hopes for a tolerant, democratic government.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani spoke with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo via video conference and discussed the Afghan peace process, according to the government official.
Presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said that Ghani and Pompeo also discussed the next steps towards peace, including the release of prisoners, the analysis and location of negotiations, and other peace-related measures, TOLO News reported.
Both sides emphasized the need for joint cooperation on reporting during the peace negotiations, Sediqqi said.
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Last month, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad said that he had a “constructive meeting” with senior Taliban leaders in Doha, and discussed counter-terrorism, intra-Afghan talks and the withdrawal of American forces from the country under the peace deal.
Khalilzad also met President Ashraf Ghani and Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and congratulated them on their agreement to form an inclusive government after proctracted negotiations.
Pompeo and Ghani agreed to work on the details of the peace process in the coming days, with the Afghan government in particular emphasizing the undeclared ceasefire mechanism that sets out the rules of the game, he added.
The US-Taliban deal signed in Qatar on February 29 calls for the release of up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners to open the way for intra-Afghan negotiations.
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