KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th January, 2020) Outcome of the informal talks between the United States and the Taliban that have recently resumed in Qatar should not contradict the national interests of the Afghans, Najia Anwari, spokeswoman for the state ministry of peace affairs, said Tuesday.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Qatar on Sunday for a new round of bilateral peace talks with the Taliban, with many leading Afghan officials hopeful that a binding agreement can be signed between the two sides.
"The expectation of the Afghan government and the Afghan people is that the talks between the United States and the Taliban in Qatar will come to an end, and the final decision should not be something that goes against the wishes and national interests of the Afghans," Anwari said.
Former Taliban official Syed Akbar Agha told Sputnik that the US was in a hurry to sign the agreement and reach a deal with the Taliban, adding that he expects an agreement as early as this week.
According to Sputnik's sources, the vast majority of top Taliban officials back the reduction in violence.
Retired Gen. Atiqullah Amarkhail believes that US President Donald Trump is also determined to fulfill his promise to put an end to Afghan conflict. "Elections are coming and there is pressure on Trump," he explained.
Meanwhile, Asif Siddiqi, the second deputy speaker of the Afghan Senate, has called any outcome of the Qatar talks "useless," stressing the need to focus on the intra-Afghan dialogue.
The US held a number of peace talks with the Taliban throughout 2019 in a bid to encourage the group to cut the ties with terrorists and begin rapprochement with the Afghan government, paving the way for US troops to pull out. No significant results have so far been achieved during these talks. Khalilzad canceled previous peace talks in December after a Taliban attack on a US military base resulted in the deaths of two civilians and left more than 70 people injured.
