Khalilzad urges US, Islamic Emirate to pursue Doha agreement

KABUL (TOLOnews): The former US special envoy for Afghanistan’s reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, urged Washington and the Islamic Emirate to pursue the agreement which they reached on February 29, 2019.

In an interview with TOLOnews, the US former envoy for Afghan peace called on the “Taliban” to mull over their policies regarding several issues including the closure of girls’ schools beyond grade six in order to engage with the international community.
“(If) the Taliban want to have a legal government and be part of the international community and make a strong Afghanistan, they should revise their views,” he said.
Khalilzad suggested the US and “Taliban” sit for talks and discuss the points of the agreements which have not been implemented.

“The US and Taliban should sit for (talks) on issues which were included in the Doha agreement but not implemented, like the guarantee on terrorism, like the formation of a government based on dialogue,” Khalilzad said.

The Afghan-born US veteran diplomat accused the Islamic Emirate of breaching the Doha agreement, saying that he is sure about the killing of al-Qaeda leader Ayman-al-Zawahiri in Kabul, which to date the Islamic Emirate has still not confirmed. The Islamic Emirate’s spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid earlier at a press conference called the killing of Zawahiri in Kabul an “allegation.”

“I am sure this happened and the Taliban must also be aware of it and they know it. They have a problem with how to explain it because this is in contrast with the Doha agreement,” Khalilzad said.