Monday January 28, 2019
Kabul (BNA) The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has hailed what he called “Significant progress” made by the US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, after six days of talks with Taliban in Qatar.
“Encouraging news from [Khalilzad],” Pompeo wrote on his Twitter page. “The US is serious about pursuing peace, preventing Afghanistan from continuing to be a space for international terrorism and brining forces home. Working with the Afghan govt and all interested parties, the US seeks to strengthen Afghan sovereignty, independence and prosperity,” Pompeo tweeted. Pompeo’s optimistic remarks come after Khalilzad said progress had been made in six days of discussion with the Taliban in Qatar. He cautioned on Twitter that no deal had been finalized with the militants, but he said further talks would resume shortly. He also said that he was flying back to Afghanistan to discuss the talks. “Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We have made significant progress on vital issues,” Khalilzad said in a tweet. “We have a number of issues left to work out,” he said, while adding that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and ‘everything’ must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive cases-fire.
