U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is warning that much anticipated negotiations between Afghanistan’s warring parties are likely to be “contentious.” By Kathygannon.
FILE - In this Feb. 29, 2020, file photo, U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader sign a peace agreement between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar. The Taliban say the long-awaited peace talks with the negotiating team selected by the Afghan government are to begin on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar. The announcement on Sept.
Pompeo made his comments en route to the Middle Eastern State of Qatar, where intra-Afghan negotiations are to begin Saturday, a day mostly reserved for ceremony before the hard task of hammering out a road map for a post-war Afghanistan begins. President Donald Trump made the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan a promise before the 2016 presidential election. In the countdown to this November’s presidential polls, Washington has ramped up pressure to start intra-Afghan negotiations.
Pompeo in his comments made it clear the U.S. was ready to return soldiers to Afghanistan if it saw a threat emerging and the Taliban reneged on their commitments. The White House and its peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad have refused to give specifics on commitments made by the Taliban, citing security concerns.
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