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President Barack Obama and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai support the idea of holding talks with the Taliban in its Qatar office, the White House said on Tuesday, reviving hopes for a peace process.
The announcement came despite a brazen Taliban assault on the Afghan presidential palace in the heart of Kabul on Tuesday, in which three security guards and all five assailants were killed in an hour-long gunbattle.
In a video call, the two leaders agreed that “an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process is the surest way to end violence and ensure lasting stability in Afghanistan and the region,” the White House said.
“They reiterated their support for an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the (Afghan government’s) High Peace Council and authorised representatives of the Taliban.”

	The two presidents reaffirmed that free, fair, and credible elections would be critical to Afghanistan’s future

	The White House
Obama appeared to have persuaded Karzai to renew peace efforts after the Afghan leader’s furious response to the Taliban’s portrayal of its newly opened Qatar office as the headquarters of a state-in-exile.
US envoy James Dobbins said on Monday that Washington was also “outraged” at how the Taliban opened the office, which had been intended as a first step towards a peace deal to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan.
The Taliban opened the office under the rebel group’s white flag and referred to themselves as the “Islamic Emirate Of Afghanistan,” the name of their hardline 1996-2001 regime.
The flag and the name triggered a diplomatic bust-up that derailed an early stage of efforts to start peace talks as the US-led NATO combat mission winds down 12 years after the Taliban were ousted.
The Afghan government, which has said it is still committed to the peace process, insists the Taliban’s office in the Gulf state must only be used for direct talks with Karzai’s appointed negotiators.
The contentious sign, flag and flagpole unveiled at the opening of the office last Tuesday have now been moved.
On Tuesday Dobbins arrived in Islamabad for talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and other senior officials on efforts to launch negotiations with the Taliban, which have long maintained rear bases in Pakistan.
The prime minister’s office said he had told Dobbins that “Pakistan had the highest stakes in the return of peace and stability to Afghanistan.”
Although Islamabad is at war with the Pakistani Taliban, it has long been accused of quietly sheltering the Afghan Taliban battling US forces across the border and is seen as a key player in any future peace effort.
Karzai, furious over the way the Taliban office was opened, also broke off Afghan-US talks on an agreement that could allow Washington to maintain soldiers in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends.
The White House statement said Obama welcomed the June 18 “milestone” at which Afghan security forces took the lead for operations countrywide.
It said the two leaders had discussed the negotiation of a Bilateral Security Agreement but did not say when the talks might be resumed.
About 100,000 foreign combat troops, 68,000 of them American, are due to exit Afghanistan by the end of next year.
In the video call, the two leaders also discussed preparations for Afghanistan’s next year elections.
“The two presidents reaffirmed that free, fair, and credible elections would be critical to Afghanistan’s future,” the White House said.


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Taliban

Obama commits to Afghan-led peace talks with Taliban

US President Barack Obama shakes hands with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Photo: AFP

Peace talks in doubt after Taliban attack in Kabul, Afghanistan

Afghan security forces stand guard near the entrance to the presidential palace in Kabul after a Taliban attack yesterday. Photo: AP

Taliban attack Kabul presidential palace and CIA office

Smoke billows from the scene of gunfight between Taliban militants and Afghan security officials near the Presidential palace in Kabul. Photo: EPA

President Hamid Karzai at the presidential palace in Kabul. Photo: AP

Taliban removes disputed flag at Qatar office, but talks still in doubt

A Taliban flag at their office in Doha, Qatar, last week. Photo: AP

Taliban guerillas welcome Qatar office but fight on

Muhammad Naeem a representative of the Taliban speaks at the official opening of their office in Doha, Qatar, Taliban fighters on Friday hailed the rebels’ new office in Qatar as evidence of their success on the front lines. Photo: AP

Afghan Taliban offers to free US soldier held captive since 2009

Afghan men on a motorcycle drive past Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers on guard outside Bagram military base, 50 kms north of Kabul. Photo: AFP

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World

US and Afghanistan support talks with Taliban in Qatar


Obama commits to Afghan-led peace talks with Taliban

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}US and Afghanistan support talks with Taliban in Qatar

US and Afghanistan support talks with Taliban in Qatar