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After 17 years of war, peace may return to Afghanistan

Hopes for stability rise as US envoy and Taliban inch closer to an agreement

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Reliable sources say a ceasefire draft has been agreed by both parties
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After six days of intensive negotiations between US and Taliban at the Taliban's political office in Qatar, US President's special envoy for Afghan reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad flew off to Kabul directly after completing the round in Doha, in what is being termed as a round of negotiations having significant progress.

This was Khalilzad's fourth round of negotiations held with the Afghan Taliban since his appointment in September as the special representative and the longest rounds of negotiations done to date between the two.

Both the US and Taliban have come a long way past the hurdles, sources privy to the talks have told WION that a ceasefire draft has been agreed upon as well. Khalilzad went to Afghanistan to take their leadership into confidence on such a significant development, Afghan leadership have been neglected and kept in the dark during the whole set of the ongoing dialogue.

Despite repeated attempts by the Afghan government to be made part of the process, the Taliban refuses to do so. In December 2018, during the talks at Abu Dhabi, sources tell WION that representatives of Saudi Arab had persuaded the Taliban to meet with the Afghan government in Saudi Arabia, an offer which the Taliban had refused to take. The Saudi representatives then asked the Taliban to offer prayers together at Makkah, an offer that was declined by the Taliban as well.

Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad in his tweets following the completion of Doha talks said that he was " headed to Afghanistan for consultations. Meetings here were more productive than they have been in the past. We made significant progress on vital issue [which] Will build on the momentum and resume talks shortly. We have a number of issues left to work out. Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, and "everything" must include an intra-Afghan dialogue and comprehensive ceasefire.". Ambassador Khalilzad thanked the role of the Qatari side and the foreign Minister of Qatar on his personal involvement.

Simultaneously a statement released from the Afghan Taliban also reiterated what Ambassador Khalilzad in his tweets had said. Following his arrival in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad has held number of meetings including that with the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani.

In his meeting with President Ghani, Zalmay Khalilzad apprised the Afghan president on the progress made during the Doha talks. President Ghani was quick to react to the development, following the meeting, President Ghani addressed to the nation where he called for the Taliban to not to be used by a third country, while referring to Pakistan under the common impression of Islamabad calling the shots on behalf of the Taliban. President Ghani also further said that no Afghan wanted foreign troops on their soil

Sources tell WION that a ceasefire draft has been agreed upon and that it was First that the US will announce its withdrawal from Afghanistan along with a timeline of withdrawal following which the Taliban shall announce a cease fire.

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