Taliban Makes Flurry of Diplomatic Efforts With Peace Talks on Brink

 Afghan government issues demands, threatens to pull out

Jason Ditz Posted onFebruary 3, 2021CategoriesNewsTagsAfghanistan

Peace talks in Doha have been stalled for weeks, and with the Biden Administration threatening to end the promised US pullout, the situation is looking bad. This has the Taliban making a flurry of last minute diplomatic overtures to try to save the process.

Taliban officials have visited Iran and Moscow, and are planning a trip to Turkey, trying to find anybody that will help save the process and get them assurances of an “inclusive Islamic system” that would be part of the peace.

The big issue is ultimately foreign troops, as the peace was dependent on the US and NATO leaving. Now NATO isn’t leaving, the US seems unlikely to leave on time, and the Ghani government is threatening to withdraw negotiators if the Taliban don’t accept demands for an immediate ceasefire and resume the talks.

It’s not clear at this point if there’s a peace to talk about, however, and these new diplomatic efforts may be trying to find if there is any indication from anyone that the US might still be on track for the February 29 peace deal, or if they’ve already decided to renege and just let things fall apart.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/02/03/taliban-makes-flurry-of-diplomatic-efforts-with-peace-talks-on-brink/