DOHA - US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad met with the Taliban’s head of their Qatar office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and with the newly appointed chief negotiator Abdul Hakim Haqqani to discuss issues relating to peace talks.
In a post on Twitter, the Taliban’s newly appointed spokesman for peace talks, Mohammad Naeem Wardak, said the meeting focused on the speedy completion of the prisoner release process and the start of intra-Afghan talks.
He also said other members of the negotiating team were present as well as Qatar’s deputy foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman at-Thani.
Khalilzad arrived in Qatar over the weekend to pave the way for talks to start between the Afghan government and the Taliban. However, due to constant delays, the talks have not yet started.
Early Thursday morning, the Taliban attributed this latest delay to the issue of six prisoners that have still not been released.
The “high risk” prisoners are said to be responsible for the deaths of foreign nationals, for masterminding some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan over the past few years and for being drug kingpins.
Reports indicate the six could be transferred to Qatar where they will be held under supervision. (ATN)