US special envoy meets Afghan president in Kabul

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

A U.S. special envoy met Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in Kabul, an official statement said on Sunday.

According to the statement issued by Afghan Presidential Palace, U.S. Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad briefed Ghani about his plans for the proposed meetings with officials in Pakistan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and the Taliban representatives.

It noted that Ghani backed efforts for Afghan-owned and Afghan-led peace process, and thanked Khalilzad for striving for peace in the country.

As a repeat of the last month’s exercise, the U.S. envoy is scheduled to tour Islamabad, Riyadh, Dubai and Doha in the next few days.

The release of former Taliban deputy chief, Mulla Baradar, from a Pakistani prison last month is seen as the outcome of Khalilzad’s engagements.

As a counterweight to the U.S. efforts, Russia held a peace conference in the capital Moscow on Friday with the Taliban and relatively low-profile Afghan delegation joining diplomats from Pakistan, Iran, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan for the moot.