Talks with the US started secretly under Obama, says Taliban

Doha: The US-Taliban negotiations that culminated with a peace deal signed in Doha began with former US President Barak Obama’s administration, but remained a secret, the spokesperson for Taliban's political office in Doha said. The Taliban hopes to reach an agreement with the Afghan government before the total withdrawal of the international troops within 14 months, the spokesman, Suhail Shaheen told Efe news in an interview on Sunday. “It took a long time to reach a deal with the US because they started a few years back but it was away from the eye of the media so it was only in the time of the Trump administration that we openly talked with them and all the details were told to the media,” he said.

Although he did not reveal when the talks exactly began, he pointed out that it got underway “during the Obama administration”.

The talks were “hidden behind closed doors” in Doha, where both parties signed the historic peace agreement on February 29.

The deal lays out a roadmap for the full withdrawal of US troops in Afghanistan starting with the removal of 8,600 soldiers, in a period of 135 days after the signing of the peace agreement. Currently, some 14,000 US troops are deployed in the country.

During the process, the group remained united with leaders in the field following orders thanks, in part, to the political office Shaheen has been working at for eight years.

The seven-day reduction in violence implemented by the Taliban before the signing ceremony was a good example of that, he told Efe news. After reaching a future intra-Afghan peace deal that ends the war, Shaheen hopes that “all” Taliban members, including its leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, will be able to return to Kabul. (IANS)

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