The US and Taliban negotiators are expected to reach somesort of a conclusion on a timetable for troop withdrawal as well asintra-Afghan talks in the next round of the peace talks on June 29, two formermembers of the Taliban has said.
This would be the seventh round of the US-Taliban talks asper US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad,but he did not make the venue clear, TOLO News reported on Sunday.
The past six rounds of the US-Taliban talks have been heldin the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
Earlier this month, the Afghan government announced torelease almost 900 Taliban prisoners. So far, figures show that almost 400 ofthe prisoners have been released.
One of the former Taliban member, Abdul Shakoor Mutmaen,said the release of the prisoners could have a good impact on the talks.
“These are key negotiations because the Taliban(prisoners) have been freed and we are very much hopeful that the talks willend with a positive result,” he said.
“A timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces (fromAfghanistan) is the key to progress in the talks,” said MawlawiQalamuddin, the second former Taliban member.
“Talks with the Afghan government will begin and otherissues will be solved if there is an agreement on this (the timetable).”
Announcing the date for the next round of talks, Khalilzadsaid in a tweet on Saturday that as per his visits to Afghanistan and Qatar,all sides — the Afghan government, Taliban, and members of the public — want”rapid progress” in the talks.
Khalizad’s tweet comes as at least 57 Afghan politiciansattended the Afghan peace conference in Pakistan which was titled the”Lahore Process”, TOLO News reported.
In an address to the media on Saturday, Pakistan’s ForeignMinister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the meeting was a “complementary”of peace efforts in Doha, Moscow and other countries.
Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, meanwhile, said hewelcomes any effort for promoting peace in Afghanistan.