Peace talks to get started between Taliban, Afghan government 19 years after 9/11 triggered war
12 September, 2020
Afghanistan's government and the Taliban will meet for peace talks in Doha on Saturday in a bid to end nearly two decades of war, though a quick breakthrough seems unlikely.
The US-backed negotiations come six months later than planned owing to bitter disagreements over a controversial prisoner swap agreed in February.
Talks will get started a day following the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks which led the united states to invade Afghanistan and topple the Taliban regime that were sheltering Al-Qaeda head Osama bin Laden.
The two sides must flesh out "how exactly to move their country forward to lessen violence and deliver what the Afghan persons are demanding -- a reconciled Afghanistan with a government that reflects a country that's not at war," said US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who'll attend the talks' opening.
President Donald Trump, up for re-election in November, features pushed hard to get rid of America's longest war and needs all foreign forces to keep Afghanistan by subsequent year.
A thorough peace deal could take years, and will be based upon the willingness of both sides to tailor their competing visions for the united states.
The Taliban, who've refused to discover President Ashraf Ghani's government, will push to reshape Afghanistan into an Islamic "emirate".
Ghani's administration will look for to keep the Western-backed status quo of a constitutional republic which has enshrined many rights including greater freedoms for women.
Ending the war
"My beard was black when the war initiated, it really is snow white now and we remain in war," stated Kabul resident Obaidullah, 50.
"I don't believe the war will end that quickly, I am sceptical about the talks because both sides wish their whole agenda and their system enforced," added the retired civil servant.
Many Afghans fear any Taliban return to power -- partial or completely -- could lead to a return of Islamic sharia law.
The insurgents claimed victory in February after signing a Qatari-mediated manage Washington that organized a timetable for talks.
Qatar features quietly led mediation attempts which were complicated by violence found in Afghanistan and the coronavirus crisis, with Doha's chief negotiator Mutlaq al-Qahtani stressing on Thursday "the energy of diplomacy".
Doha invited the Taliban to start a political office found in 2013 and helped broker February's troop withdrawal deal between Washington and the Taliban.
The arrangement has resulted in tense occasions like when the Taliban raised their flag above the office, sparking fury in Kabul.
On Friday two Afghan countrywide flags were carried in to the Doha luxury hotel that will host the talks as turbaned Taliban queued alongside media and caterers to have coronavirus lab tests ahead of the gathering.
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