TheAPInterview: Afghanistan's former president Hamid Karzai said he requested the Taliban enter Kabul to “protect the population,' after the group had already reached its gates amid chaos following the sudden flight of U.S.-backed president Ashraf Ghani.
The countdown to a possible deal began Aug. 14, the day before the Taliban came to power.
At noon, the Taliban called to say that “the government should stay in its positions and should not move that they have no intention to into the city,” Karzai said. “I and others spoke to various officials and assurances were given to us that, yes, that was the case, that the Americans and the government forces were holding firm to the places that Kabul would would not fall.”
“Absolutely. Absolutely. That is what we were preparing for, what we were hoping with the chairman of the peace council to go to Doha that evening, or the next morning, and to finalize the agreement,” he said. “And I believe the Taliban leaders were also waiting for us in Doha for the same ... objective, for the same purpose.”
There’s no indication the Taliban will accept his formula, though he says they have not rejected it in discussions. A jirga is a centuries-old Afghan tradition for decision-making and is particularly popular among ethnic Pashtuns, which make up the backbone of the Taliban.
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