U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Wednesday in a bid to breath new life into efforts to end the war in Afghanistan, discussing with President Ashraf Ghani steps that could lead to a ceasefire and a peace deal, Washington and Kabul said. After his visit to Kabul, Khalilzad will to fly to Qatar to meet Taliban negotiators, the State Department said. The Taliban has refused to engage with what they denounce as Ghani’s “illegitimate puppet regime,” and rejected a ceasefire while talks are underway. Kabul says it is ready to revive talks. But it has rejected the previous format under which Khalilzad excluded Afghan officials from U.S. troop withdrawal negotiations.

Source: National Post December 04, 2019 18:00 UTC