Trump aborts Afghan peace process

WASHINGTON/KABUL: US President Donald Trump on Saturday canceled a secret meeting with the Taliban leaders and the Afghan president after he announced that he had called off negotiations to reach a peace deal in Afghanistan.

"Unbeknownst to almost everyone," Trump said in a series of tweets, "the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp Davis on Sunday. They were coming to the United States tonight. Unfortunately, in order to build false leverage, they admitted to an attack in Kabul that killed one of our great great soldiers, and 11 other people."

Trump then announced, "I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen their bargaining position? They didn't, they only made it worse!"

He further wrote, "If they cannot agree to a ceasefire during these very important peace talks, and would even kill 12 innocent people, then they probably don’t have the power to negotiate a meaningful agreement anyway. How many more decades are they willing to fight?"

Over the last few months, negotiations among the US, the Taliban and the Afghan government had seen some development, but at the same time there was also a spike in attacks in Afghanistan. In a recent such assault, US Army Sergeant 1st Class was killed, giving President Trump a reason to call off further talks.

Earlier this week, the US and Taliban negotiators had managed to draft a peace deal helping the Trump administration to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. However, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo on Wednesday reportedly refused to sign the proposed deal citing certain conditions.

Two days ago, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had also, reportedly, postponedhis planned visit to the US, aimed at discussing US-Taliban talks. US Commander General Kenneth McKenzie, who oversees American troops in the region, had also commented that it was particularly unhelpful for the Taliban to ramp up violence.

He told reporters that for the peace process to move forward, "all parties should be committed to an eventual political settlement" which should result in reduced violence. "If we can’t get that going in, then it is difficult to see the parties are going to be able to carry out the terms of the agreement, whatever they might or might not be," he had said.

Meanwhile, Secretary Mike Pompeo on Sunday defended President Trump's decision to cancel secret meetings at Camp David saying, "If the Taliban can’t live up to their commitments, if they're going to continue to do the things that they’ve been doing — and as we approached this decision point in the discussions with the Afghans, they blow up Kabul and kill an American — President Trump will never do that."

The Taliban confirmed in a statement that they had been asked in late August to visit the US “by the invitation of President Trump” and said his announcement halting talks would harm American credibility and show the US's anti-peace stance in (a) more clear way.

“While America and Afghan allies have killed hundreds of Afghans, it doesn’t show patience and experience to react to an attack [by the Taliban] prior to signing the deal.” The Taliban vowed to continue its jihad but left open the possibility of resuming negotiations.

“If the way if talks is chosen instead of war, we are committed to that until the end,” it said. Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political office in Doha, where negotiations have been taking place, said an agreement had been “finalised” a few days ago and that both sides had agreed the deal would be announced by the Qatari government.

“Everyone was satisfied,” he wrote on Twitter. “At this time, the disappointing President Trump’s tweets have been unbelievable and certainly damaged his credibility.”

American negotiators said they had reached an “agreement in principle” with the Taliban leaders over nine rounds of talks in Qatar aimed at facilitating the withdrawal of roughly 13,000 US troops who remain in Afghanistan nearly 18 years since the military campaign commenced.

The Camp David talks would have been held three days short of the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Most of the terms of provisional peace agreement are classified but it would include the withdrawal of 5,000 American soldiers from five bases across Afghanistan by early next year.

The Taliban would agree to renounce al-Qaida, fight the Islamic State group and stop jihadists from using the south Asian country as a safe haven. Trump campaigned for office promising to get the US “out of the nation-building business” but was persuaded by his advisers to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2017.

The surge failed to arrest the momentum of the Taliban, who now control more territory than at any time since they were ousted in 2001. The US president authorised the commencement of talks with the Taliban last year in the hope of ending the US’s ongoing military deployment in the country, which he described in July as “ridiculous”.

Bloodletting has continued in the battered country despite the negotiations, including a car bomb blast on Thursday a fortified area near the green zone. The death of the American soldier was at least the 16th of a US serviceperson in Afghanistan this year. A Taliban spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack on Twitter.

More than 1,200 civilians have been killed so far this year in the country, most as a result of airstrikes by the US warplanes including 89 children, according to figures by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan that the US government disputes.

A spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the Taliban for the failure of talks saying the group’s "obstinacy to increase violence against Afghans" is the "main obstacle" to peace negotiations.

“We think there was an opportunity for the Taliban to embrace a political life, they failed to do so, continuing violence while they were talking to the US envoy in Qatar,” Ghani's spokesman Sediq Sediqi told reporters Sunday.

“Whatever was going on in Qatar, after all those rounds of talks and negotiations that were going on for ten months, we expected an outcome that will lead to a ceasefire that could lead us to a direct negotiation with the Afghan government and the Taliban. Unfortunately, that we didn’t see,” Sediqi said.

Meanwhile, Kabul on Sunday praised the "sincere efforts of its allies" after President Trump said he had called off negotiations with the Taliban."The Afghan government, in relation to the peace, appreciates the sincere efforts of its allies and is committed to working together with the United States and other allies to bring a lasting peace," said a statement from President Ashraf Ghani´s office.

"We have always insisted that a real peace can only be achieved if the Taliban stop killing Afghans and accept a ceasefire, and face-to-face talks with the Afghan government," the statement from Ghani´s office said.

A presidential election is scheduled for September 28, and Kabul "insists" the polls should be held to establish "a strong, lawful and legitimate government so that it can take forward the peace process with wisdom".

CNN reports: Despite Trump’s tweet that peace negotiations are called off, new dates are being discussed by the White House for a potential meeting with the Taliban and the Afghan government.

It's unclear if the Taliban will have to make hard and fast commitments before the meeting or if Trump is using the cancellation and rescheduling simply as a negotiating tactic, it said. "We have consistently stressed that genuine peace is possible when the Taliban stop the killing of Afghans, embrace an inclusive ceasefire, and enter into direct negotiations with the Afghan government," the government said in a statement.