TEHRAN, December 19 - The United Arab Emirates has reported tangible and positive results from the latest round of talks between the United States and Afghanistan’s Taliban militant group which was held in the capital Abu Dhabi.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The "US-Taliban reconciliation talks" produced "tangible results that are positive for all parties concerned," state news agency WAM said Wednesday.
A new round of talks would be held in Abu Dhabi "to complete the Afghanistan reconciliation process," the new agency said, without elaborating.
Officials from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan also attended the two days of discussions, which began in the city on Monday.
The meetings are the latest in a flurry of diplomatic efforts aimed at putting an end to a 17-year-old war in Afghanistan which began with the US invasion in 2001.
The US State Department's special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, said he held "productive" meetings in Abu Dhabi with Afghan and international partners "to promote intra-Afghan dialogue towards ending the conflict."
A peace negotiations team of the Kabul government also traveled to Abu Dhabi “to begin proximity dialogue with the Taliban delegation and to prepare for a face-to-face meeting between the two sides,” the Afghan presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said.
The Taliban, however, has not acknowledged meeting Afghan officials. The group said Tuesday they had held "preliminary talks" with Khalilzad.
The militant group also said they had held "extensive" meetings with delegates from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - the only three countries to recognize the Taliban government during its five-year rule in the late 1990s, reiterating demands for international troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The Taliban’s five-year rule over at least three quarters of Afghanistan came to an end in the wake of the US-led invasion, but 17 years on, the militant group continues to flex its muscles against the government and the foreign troops remaining on Afghan soil.
Source: Press TV
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