US Secretary of State Antony Blinken proposes UN-led peace conference

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has proposed a UN-led peace conference in a letter to Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the war-torn country's prolonged issue, according to media reports.

In the February 28 dated letter to Ghani, Blinken proposed the conference in Turkey "to discuss a unified approach to supporting peace in Afghanistan", Xinhua news agency quoted The New York Times, which obtained a copy of the proposals, as saying in a report on Sunday.

The proposals included a road map for a future Afghan government with Taliban representation; a revised constitution; and terms for a permanent and comprehensive cease-fire.

Blinken noted in the letter that the US had not decided to pull out the remaining about 2,500 troops from Afghanistan by May, but expressed concerns that "the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains" following an American withdrawal. (IANS)

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