Taliban, US hit stalemate over troop withdrawal time frame

Members of a Taliban delegation, led by chief negotiator Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar (C, front), walk before a meeting with Afghan senior politicians in Moscow, Russia May 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina

Taliban representatives during the peace talks on Afghanistan held in Moscow on November 9, 2018. (TASS)

• Washington seeks 18 months for a complete troop pullout while Taliban stress on 9.
• The negotiating sides have taken a break to hold discussions with their respective leadership

ISLAMABAD: Taliban on Wednesday said its hopeful to reach an understanding with the United States over the time-frame for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan.
The decision — one of the several taken during a meeting between the two sides when they resumed talks in Qatar on Monday — follows months of negotiations for the peace process.
The Taliban leadership has endorsed suggestions by its political office to reach an understanding with Washington on ways to end the conflict which has now entered its 18th year.
The Taliban demand the US to agree exiting Afghanistan within a span of nine months, a Taliban official privy to the discussions told Arab News requesting anonymity. 
The US, for its part, has asked for 18 months instead, a condition rejected by the Taliban, he said.
During the talks on Monday, the two sides also reached a prisoner swap deal where the Taliban agreed to release two professors — American Kevin King, 60, and Australian Timothy Weeks, 48 – who were associated with the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul and had been kidnapped near the campus in August 2016.
The Taliban had released two videos of the hostages since they were kidnapped in which they had urged US President Donald Trump to negotiate the conditions for their release.
Taliban officials say that negotiations had been held in Qatar for the prisoner swap, following Pakistan’s intervention in the matter.
The deal could pave way for the release of Anas Haqqani, brother of Taliban deputy chief Siraj Haqqani, and 10 other Taliban members, the source added.
During their meeting on July 22, Prime Minister Imran Khan had told US President Donald Trump that they would “be giving you good news about the two hostages.”
Meanwhile, Taliban’s spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told Arab News on Tuesday that no date has yet been fixed for the upcoming meeting after the two sides took a break from negotiations on July 9.
Taliban’s political spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, had earlier announced that both sides will resume their seventh round of negotiations following a break which they had taken for consultations with their respective leaders.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Taliban’s political office is currently in Indonesia for a conference with religious scholars in Jakarta, a statement issued by the group said on Tuesday.
During the talks, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who is the head of the group’s political office and is leading the delegation in Indonesia, highlighted the “current situation of Afghanistan, policy and achievements,” it added. 
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, who had been in Kabul since July 23, also held talks with government leaders, politicians, members of the peace council and civil society, women activists, and diplomats to brief them about their talks with the Taliban.
On July 22, the US State Department had said that Khalilzad would also visit Doha to resume talks with the Taliban.