Khalilzad told an audience at the U.S. Institute of Peace on Friday that he hopes a final deal can be clinched before Afghanistan’s presidential election in July. He stressed, however that many issues remain to be resolved and that it must be a package deal. The former U.S. ambassador to Kabul also called for direct talks to begin as soon as possible between the Taliban and the Afghan government, which thus far has not been involved in Khalilzad’s talks. So far, though, he noted that the Taliban have been unwilling to take this step, arguing that the government is illegitimate. U.S. troops invaded in October 2001 and toppled the Taliban government within weeks after Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network launched the 9-11 attacks from Afghanistan.

Source: thestar February 10, 2019 17:37 UTC