Meetings between the Taliban and American Officials in Doha

The Department of State refuses to comment on the news of negotiations.

WASHINGTON — A former official of the Taliban announced on Sunday that the negotiators representing the Taliban began preliminary talks with American officials in Qatar. The goal of the talks was to end the ongoing war of 10 years in Afghanistan. The head of the religious police under the Taliban rule from 1996 to 2001, Mawlavi Qalamuddin, said to Agence France-Presse: “The actual peace talks have not yet begun — they are in the process of trust-building and obviously this will take some time.” Qalamuddin is currently a member of the High Peace Council, and he was appointed to this position by the government of Hamid Karzai.

In response to a question from Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the official from the Department of State refused to comment on the negotiations in Doha between the U.S. and the Taliban. He referred to a statement released by Victoria Nuland, a spokeswoman for the Department of State, during the previous week. Nuland said, “We will not speak about the details of the diplomatic negotiations with anyone. As the Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, has said, we are prepared for negotiations, and in regards to Afghanistan, we are prepared to contribute to and encourage any peaceful solutions that unite Afghans.”*

Qalamuddin said that the Taliban delegation is now in Qatar, and it includes Muhammad Tayib Agha, a close ally, and the secretary to Mullah Omar (the leader of the Taliban), and Shahabuddin Delawar, the former Taliban ambassador in Riyadh. He added that “Currently, the delegation is engaging in preliminary talks. This process is in its early stages. We need to build trust before further talks.”

Included in the steps for building trust from the side of the Taliban is the freeing of five Taliban members in Guantanamo Bay. Washington is asking insurgents to stop violence. Qalamuddin has said it is “clear” that the delegation from the Taliban went to Qatar from Pakistan, in a move to show that Afghanistan’s neighbor to the south, which is being accused by Kabul of previous attempts to disrupt peace talks, may have begun participating in the process.

The spokesperson for the Afghan exterior ministry, Janan Mosazai, stated that the visit signifies a “new stage” in the cooperation between the two countries. He pointed out that Pakistani foreign minister Hina Khar will initiate talks with the Afghani foreign minister Zulmai Rasoul, and the president Hamid Karzai.

Musazai added “Both sides will discuss fighting terrorism, and supporting Pakistan, which is urgently needed for the peace process in Afghanistan.” He also said that “Pakistan plays an important role in the Afghan peace process, and Afghanistan needs sincere effort from surrounding nations in the peace talks.”

The visit from the Pakistani foreign minister comes as a part of Pakistani efforts toward Afghanistan on the issue of continuing talks about the Taliban, which stopped after the assassination of a key negotiator for Afghani peace, Burhanuddin Rabbani, during a suicide bombing last September, according to officials.

Karazai accused Pakistan of being responsible for Rabbani’s death, while stating last month that Islamabad is ruining all attempts at talks with the Taliban.

In the beginning, Karazai feared that he would be playing a peripheral role in the Qatar talks, so Washington sent its special envoy Marc Grossman to Kabul last week to reassure him that his government would be playing a key role in any coming important talks.

In another attempt to clear Karzai’s doubts, it is expected that a delegation from the Qatari government will be arriving in Kabul to clarify the Afghani role in the talks. This is according to what the secretary of the High Peace Council, Aminuddin Muzaffari, has said to Agence France-Presse.

Muzaffari said, “We are expecting a delegation from Qatar to Kabul to discuss the role of the Afghanis in the peace talks, and how and when they will run. The peace talks will continue in Qatar.”

*Editor’s note: While this quote was accurately translated, it could not be verified.