After more than a decade of war in Afghanistan, and nearly three years of sputtering and unsuccessful attempts at talks, the United States will open formal negotiations with the Taliban this week aimed at ending insurgent attacks, officials said Tuesday.
The new dialogue, with a Taliban delegation that U.S. officials said has been authorized by Taliban leader Mohammed Omar, will begin Thursday in Doha, the Qatari capital. The United States will be represented by senior State Department and White House officials.
The Obama administration has long sought to put a negotiating process in place before the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014. Senior administration officials called the agreement to open a Taliban political office in Doha a “milestone” on the road to ending the bloody and long-running conflict.
But the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of a public announcement, cautioned that they did not expect immediate results from the negotiations.
“It’s an important first step toward reconciliation…that promises to be complex, long and messy. But nonetheless an important first step,” one senior official said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has repeatedly demanded that his government be part of any U.S. discussion with the Taliban, will not participate in the initial talks. The Taliban has publicly refused to speak with the elected Afghan government.
U.S. officials said they had persuaded Karzai that the the U.S. talks would be a first stage that ultimately would lead to direct Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations. That process of persuasion began when President Obama met with Karzai early this year, they said.
In a Tuesday news conference in Kabul, Karzai said he had no “pre-conditions for talks,” but had laid down a set of “principles” in letters sent to Qatar and the United States.
“The conditions are: The talks having begun in Qatar, must immediately move to Afghanistan,” Karzai said. “Second, the talks must bring about an end of the violence in Afghanistan, and third, the talks should not become a tool for any third-party country to exploitations, for its or their interests in Afghanistan.”
“We have a very in-depth dialogue with the United States of America on the peace process,” said Karzai, who was speaking at a heavily guarded ceremony at an Afghan military training camp on the outskirts of Kabul to mark the the transfer of primary security responsibilities throughout Afghanistan to the Afghan military.
The handoff ceremony set the stage for the departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014, Karzai and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said
U.S. officials said that coalition forces would continue to provide support functions for Afghan troops until the withdrawal, but that the Afghans would have primary responsibility for the security in all of the country’s provinces.
The resumption of talks with the Taliban comes as the insurgent group has launched a series of major attacks on urban areas in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have described the attacks as desperation moves.
The new dialogue, with a Taliban delegation that U.S. officials said has been authorized by Taliban leader Mohammed Omar, will begin Thursday in Doha, the Qatari capital. The United States will be represented by senior State Department and White House officials.
The Obama administration has long sought to put a negotiating process in place before the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Afghanistan at the end of 2014. Senior administration officials called the agreement to open a Taliban political office in Doha a “milestone” on the road to ending the bloody and long-running conflict.
But the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in advance of a public announcement, cautioned that they did not expect immediate results from the negotiations.
“It’s an important first step toward reconciliation…that promises to be complex, long and messy. But nonetheless an important first step,” one senior official said.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has repeatedly demanded that his government be part of any U.S. discussion with the Taliban, will not participate in the initial talks. The Taliban has publicly refused to speak with the elected Afghan government.
U.S. officials said they had persuaded Karzai that the the U.S. talks would be a first stage that ultimately would lead to direct Afghan-to-Afghan negotiations. That process of persuasion began when President Obama met with Karzai early this year, they said.
In a Tuesday news conference in Kabul, Karzai said he had no “pre-conditions for talks,” but had laid down a set of “principles” in letters sent to Qatar and the United States.
“The conditions are: The talks having begun in Qatar, must immediately move to Afghanistan,” Karzai said. “Second, the talks must bring about an end of the violence in Afghanistan, and third, the talks should not become a tool for any third-party country to exploitations, for its or their interests in Afghanistan.”
“We have a very in-depth dialogue with the United States of America on the peace process,” said Karzai, who was speaking at a heavily guarded ceremony at an Afghan military training camp on the outskirts of Kabul to mark the the transfer of primary security responsibilities throughout Afghanistan to the Afghan military.
The handoff ceremony set the stage for the departure of U.S. and coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014, Karzai and NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said
U.S. officials said that coalition forces would continue to provide support functions for Afghan troops until the withdrawal, but that the Afghans would have primary responsibility for the security in all of the country’s provinces.
The resumption of talks with the Taliban comes as the insurgent group has launched a series of major attacks on urban areas in Afghanistan. U.S. officials have described the attacks as desperation moves.