US demands Taliban declare 10-day cease-fire to save peace talks

This AFPTV screen grab from a video made on May 28, 2019 in Moscow shows a delegation of Taliban officials led by the group's chief negotiator during a conference marking a century of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and Russia. (AFP/File)

• US warns talks could be called off if there is no cease-fire, Taliban sources say
• Taliban raise the issue of night raids, drone strikes and aerial bombings by US-led forces

ISLAMABAD: American negotiators have urged the Taliban to agree to a 10-day cease-fire amid talks in Qatar, saying the peace process could be stopped again if the militant group does not comply.
Taliban sources, who have knowledge of the developments, told Arab News the US side gave the warning as the talks resumed last week, after a three-month suspension by President Donald Trump.
US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad tweeted on Dec. 13 that he has taken a “brief pause” for the Taliban to consult their leadership about his demand for a reduction in violence.
He said he had expressed “outrage” over a Taliban attack on Bagram air base in Kabul on Dec. 11, which killed two and wounded dozens of civilians, asking the Taliban “to show they are willing and able to respond to Afghan desire for peace.”
According to Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen, the militant group had sought a few days’ break to hold consultations. He said Taliban negotiators had raised the issue of night raids, drone strikes and aerial bombings by the US-led foreign forces when the US bemoaned the Bagram attack.
A Taliban official said Americans have called for a 10-day cease-fire and “threatened to call off talks.”
“The US side has floated the idea to sign a peace agreement during the cease-fire,” the official said while requesting not to be identified as he is not authorized to speak to the media.
“They (Taliban negotiators in Qatar) have now prepared recommendations for the leadership, which will take a final decision. The leaders will decide whether or not to accept the cease-fire proposal,” he said, adding that “Americans want ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the proposal and they say there will be no talks unless the cease-fire is declared.”
Khalilzad returned to Qatar after his meetings with Pakistani officials last week weekend, but the peace talks have yet to resume.
“Status hasn’t changed,” an American source familiar with the US-Taliban talks in Doha told Arab News on Monday.
Shaheen in an earlier interview with Arab News said the Taliban would declare a cease-fire with the US and its NATO allies after the peace agreement is signed.
The Taliban and the US had finalized the peace agreement in August at the conclusion of the ninth round of talks, but the signing was blocked when Trump put a pause on the process, following an attack in Kabul which killed 12 people, including an American soldier.
As the US and Taliban are accusing each other of violence and halting the talks, senior Republican Senator Lindsey Graham met Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad on Monday to discuss the Afghan conflict.
Graham chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is a senior member of the Armed Services, Appropriations and Budget Committees of the US Senate.
Khan assured the US senator Pakistan would continue to play its facilitating role in the Afghan peace and reconciliation process, while emphasizing the value of peace and stability in Afghanistan for Pakistan’s development, a statement by the PM Office said.
This was Graham’s second visit to Pakistan in 2019.