U.S. diplomats walked out of a senior-level meeting with Afghan officials Tuesday to protest biting criticisms from the country’s national security chief over the Trump administration’s direct peace talks with the Taliban that have excluded Kabul.
The American officials had gathered at the presidential palace in Kabul as part of a trilateral meeting between U.S. representatives, several NATO ambassadors and top level members of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s government, according to local reports.
A number of members in the American delegation abruptly left Tuesday’s meeting once Afghan National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib arrived, Afghan news outlet Tolo News reported.
Mr. Mohib, who served as the Afghan ambassador to the U.S. before joining Mr. Ghani’s cabinet, on a trip to Washington earlier this month openly condemned U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad’s intensifying talks with senior Taliban leaders on a peace deal and U.S. troop withdrawal.
Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah sought to downplay the rift between Washington and Kabul, insisting in a tweet that bilateral ties remain “rock-solid, based on long-term common interests and shared values.”
But during a pair of appearances in Washington, Mr. Mohib aired growing concerns by the government of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani about Mr. Khalilzad’s diplomacy.
The Afghan national security chief accused Mr. Khalilzad, a veteran U.S. diplomat who was born in Afghanistan, of intentionally sidelining the Ghani government and seeking to secure a political foothold in the country for himself.
“Any backdoor deal with the Taliban and any foreign government” cannot end in a lasting peace for Afghanistan, he said in a D.C. visit that angered the Trump administration.
Separately, the European Union’s top diplomat on a visit to Kabul has expressed support for U.S.-led efforts to resolve Afghanistan’s 17-year war but stressed that the Afghan government must have a leading role in the process, The Associated Press reported.
After meetings with President Ghani and Mr. Abdullah, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc supports what she called”an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process.”
After Mr. Mohib’s contentious visit to Washington, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale informed Mr. Ghani that the national security adviser would have no further contact with U.S. officials in Kabul, Reuters reported.
American and Taliban negotiators, meeting in Doha, Qatar, have reportedly agreed to a draft timeline for the withdrawal of all U.S. forces from the country. In response, the Taliban would join a new unity government and cut all ties with terror groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State.
The White House has proposed a total U.S. withdrawal by 2022 or 2024, in line with demands by Mr. Trump to begin cycling out half of all troops — 7,000 in all — within the next year. Taliban negotiators rejected that plan earlier this month, demanding Washington withdraw its 17,000 troops by next year.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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