Despite a row over the Taliban’s office in Qatar, talks on their future role in Afghanistan are eventually likely to resume in what is expected to be a difficult and unpredictable peace process, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
They were responding to reports that the Taliban had closed their office in Doha after Afghan President Hamid Karzai objected to their raising a flag and giving it a nameplate that suggested they wanted to set up a government-in-exile.
“Because of the arguments around the office, it hasn’t really been used, but people are still willing to find a way forward,” said one Western diplomat.
Another diplomat said it was reasonable to assume that those involved in the talks process were still keen to make progress despite the row over the office, which opened just last month.
“It has never been used. That’s not to say people don’t talk,” the Western diplomat added.
The office is meant to allow the Taliban to negotiate a political settlement with the Afghan government, though the insurgents say they would rather talk directly to the US who they see as the main power broker in Afghanistan.
Supported by Pakistan, the talks with the Taliban are part of a much broader process to seek peace in Afghanistan as the US and its allies prepare to pull out most combat troops by the end of 2014.
That process also includes: diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan; preparations for next year’s presidential election in Afghanistan; and talks between Washington and Kabul on retaining some US troops after 2014.
The New York Times this week quoted US and European officials as saying President Barack Obama was also considering a “zero option” under which no US troops would be left behind in Afghanistan after the end of 2014.
The talks with the Taliban - held intermittently behind-the-scenes for several years by various countries including the US - are meant to find a way of bringing the insurgents back into the Afghan political process.
Believed to have the endorsement of the Taliban leadership, they were expected to pave the way for an exchange of prisoners as an initial confidence-building measure, according to diplomats. Among those would be five Taliban prisoners held by the US at its prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Three senior members of the Afghan Taliban told Reuters they had not closed their office in Qatar but suspended talks and removed their flag from the building after differences emerged between the US and the Afghan government over the proposed negotiations.
“We wanted direct talks with the US whereas the Afghan government has been planning to hold negotiation with us, which is not acceptable to us,” a senior Taliban commander said.
Pakistani and Afghan officials had no immediate comment on newspaper reports that Pakistan and Afghanistan were preparing to resume talks after a bitter row over the Doha office.
Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of backing the Taliban; in turn Pakistani officials complain that Karzai is impeding the peace process for fear of losing his authority.
Pakistani newspapers have reported that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s adviser on foreign affairs and national security, Sartaj Aziz, would soon visit Kabul, though dates have yet to be fixed.
The Western diplomat said it was a positive sign that the two neighbours were planning talks.
