US lauds Afghan provide to start talks with Taliban

Islamabad, Pakistan – The US has lauded Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s provide to start negotiations with the Afghan Taliban, with senior US Command Department superior Alice Wells announcing the armed community has some « superior grievances » over governance.

« We beget continually acknowledged that the superior grievances raised by the Taliban over justice, over corruption, over predatory governance of the previous – those considerations beget to be resolved, » acknowledged Wells at a press briefing in Washington on Monday.

Last week, President Ghani supplied the Taliban peace talks « without preconditions », with a understanding towards recognising the armed community, which has been combating US and Afghan forces for sixteen years, as a sound political birthday party.

Wells welcomed Ghani’s proposal, announcing the Kabul convention at which it became once made became once « a terribly historical and benchmark tournament ».

The Afghan Taliban beget but to formally retort to the provide. The community has been resurgent within the battlefield in most modern months, with a US watchdog reporting in October that 43 p.c of the country became once being contested between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban.

In January, a BBC understanding came upon that the Afghan Taliban all of a sudden managed four p.c of the country, but were openly energetic in 70 p.c of Afghanistan.

Pakistan’s ‘superior concerns’

Responding to a demand on relatives with Pakistan, Wells perceived to melt the US way on Afghanistan’s eastern neighbour, with whom relatives had been fraught since closing 300 and sixty five days.

« Pakistan has a actually great role to play in a peace course of. We think that Pakistan can absolutely aid to facilitate talks and to safe actions that will place force on and abet the Taliban to inch forward towards a politically negotiated settlement, » she acknowledged, declaring that Pakistan had « superior concerns » in Afghanistan.

« They’ve concerns over border management; over the [Pakistani Taliban’s] presence in ungoverned place in Afghanistan; refugee concerns, » she acknowledged.

Pakistan and the US beget sparred in a battle of words since closing August, when US President Donald Trump announced his Afghanistan and South Asia protection, singling out Pakistan for affirm criticism.

In January, Trump nick $1.1bn in security wait on to Pakistan, announcing the country became once now not doing enough to fight aspects of the Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network allegedly instruct in its territory. Pakistan denies the cost.

Despite the wait on freeze, diplomatic contacts between the two nations beget persevered, and Pakistani Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua is in Washington for excessive-level talks this week.

Her focus on with follows a poke to Islamabad by senior US Nationwide Security Council superior Lisa Curtis closing week.

« Ms. Curtis urged the authorities of Pakistan to take care of the persevering with presence of the Haqqani community and other terrorist groups internal its territory, and reiterated the worldwide community’s lengthy-standing arena about ongoing deficiencies in Pakistan’s implementation of its anti-money laundering/counterterrorism finance regime, » a screech launched after that focus on with acknowledged.

Pakistan currently faced a world setback at a meeting of the Financial Action Job Power (FATF) in Paris, where it became once decided to location the country on the worldwide organisation’s ‘grey list’, for now not doing enough to clamp down on the financing of armed groups, in conjunction with people that be aware of regional rival India.

Asad Hashim is Al Jazeera’s Internet Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim