Pompeo Met Taliban Officials in Qatar to Salvage Peace Deal - Reports

WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th March, 2020) US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met with Taliban officials in Qatar following his talks with Afghan government leaders in an effort to prevent the country's peace deal from unraveling, CNN reported.

Pompeo traveled to Doha for talks with Taliban officials, including the insurgent movement's chief negotiator Mullah Baradar, to press the group to continue complying with the agreement signed last month, the report said after the talks on Monday, citing State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus.

Meetings in Doha were preceded by Pompeo's stop in Kabul where he was trying to reconcile President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah who both claimed victory in the country's presidential elections, the report said.

Washington fears the crisis could affect the peace process and the opportunity to end the war, the report said, citing a senior State Department official.

On February 29, the United States signed an agreement with the Taliban that set the stage to terminate the longest war in American modern history and paved the way for intra-Afghan talks. The deal laid out a timetable for the withdrawal of some 8,600 troops out of the current 13,000 stationed in Afghanistan within 135 days. The full pullout is expected in 14 months.