Hopes expressed for Afghan peace momentum

DOHA, Qatar－Afghan government negotiators expressed cautious optimism for progress on thorny issues including cease-fires as peace talks with the Taliban got underway in the Qatari capital on Sunday.

A slick opening ceremony in Doha on Saturday saw the Afghan government, and allies including the United States, call for a cease-fire. The start of negotiations was the latest in a flurry of diplomatic activity by the administration of US President Donald Trump ahead of the country's presidential election in November.

But the Taliban, who have fought a guerrilla campaign against both since they were forced from power in 2001, did not mention a truce as they came to the negotiating table.

The head of the peace process for the Afghan government, Abdullah Abdullah, suggested the Taliban could offer a truce in exchange for the release of more of their jailed fighters.

"This could be one of their ideas or one of their demands," said Abdullah, who left Doha for Kabul on Sunday night as scheduled.

He said the talks should continue in the "spirit of moving toward peace".

"There should first be a significant reduction in violence, then humanitarian cease-fires, and then a nationwide and permanent ceasefire," he said.

Schedules for the talks and a code of conduct were discussed, an Afghan government tweet said without giving details of next steps.

Negotiations will be arduous and messy, delegates warned, and are starting even as bloodshed continues to grip Afghanistan.

"We will undoubtedly encounter many challenges in the talks over the coming days, weeks and months," US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday in Doha, as he called for the warring sides to "seize this opportunity" to secure peace.

Taliban's leverage

Nearly two decades since the US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban, the war still kills dozens of people daily and the country's economy has been shattered, pushing millions into poverty.

The Taliban have long worried that reducing conflict could lessen their leverage.

Officials said six police were killed in a Taliban attack in Kunduz on Sunday.

Nader Naderi, an Afghan government negotiator, said: "We are fired up and ready to go to end this fight."

During a speech at the opening event, Taliban co-founder Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar repeated the insurgents' message that Afghanistan should be run according to Islamic law, highlighting a likely sticking point.

A comprehensive peace deal could take years, and will depend on the willingness of both sides to tailor their competing visions for Afghanistan and the extent to which they can agree to share power.

Experts have suggested the sides will discuss the prospect of an interim or coalition government including all Afghan factions.

But Sultan Barakat, director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute, said it "was too early" to discuss an interim government.

"There are a number of issues ...that need to be addressed before we go into that detail of what kind of government," he told Al-Jazeera TV.

Agencies Via Xinhua