Afghan talks derailed by delegate row

US urges Kabul, Taliban to return to the table as peace hopes suffer setback

DOHA - Hopes for a breakthrough in a push to end Afghanistan's grueling conflict suffered a major setback on Friday after a key meeting between the Taliban and Afghan officials was indefinitely postponed, Agence France-Presse reported.

The so-called intra-Afghan dialogue, due to take place in Doha this weekend, fell apart at the last minute in a row over the large number of delegates Kabul wanted to send.

A senior government official in Kabul told Reuters that "the gathering has been called off for now and details were being reworked".

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said leaders of the Islamist group were uncomfortable with the size of the Afghan delegation and its composition.

"The presence of some participants was completely against the list of what was agreed upon," Mujahid told Reuters, adding that the delegation included Afghans working for the government.

The collapse of the meeting between the Taliban and Afghan politicians and civil society aimed at ending more than 17 years of war in Afghanistan came at a critical time and amid continued bloodshed. The Taliban now control or influence about half of Afghanistan and 3,804 civilians were killed there last year, according to a tally by the United Nations.

Washington, which is leading an effort to end the war, expressed its disappointment and urged both sides to return to the table, Reuters reported, though organizers provided no hint about when the conference might be rescheduled.

"I'm disappointed Qatar's intra-Afghan initiative has been delayed," Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghan reconciliation, said on social media. "I urge all sides to seize the moment and put things back on track by agreeing to a participant list that speaks for all Afghans."

Sultan Barakat, who heads the group that was to host the event, said in a statement the postponement was "necessary to build further consensus as to who should participate".

"Clearly the moment is not yet right," added Barakat, the director of the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's government had on Tuesday announced a list of 250 people from all walks of Afghan life, including government figures, which it wanted to send to Doha.

But the Taliban poured scorn on the lengthy list, saying it was not "normal" and that they had "no plans" to meet with so many people.

The conference is "not an invitation to some wedding or other party at a hotel in Kabul", the Taliban said earlier this week.

Though the insurgents insisted they would only talk to Ghani officials in a "personal capacity", any contact between the two parties in Doha would have been hugely significant, especially at a time when Afghanistan is being ripped by fresh violence after the Taliban announced their annual spring offensive, AFP said.

Ghani officials blamed the Qatari government for the summit's derailment. In a statement, the presidential palace said Qatar had rejected the long list of delegates and suggested a shorter one which was "not acceptable".

Tough path ahead

Analyst Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center in Washington said the breakdown illustrated the tough path ahead for peace.

The conference "mess and its dysfunction amplifies just how much of a long, hard slog a reconciliation process will be", he told AFP.

"If an event billed as a mere informal icebreaker causes so many problems, imagine what could happen when it's time to put something more formal together."

The Doha summit was separate from ongoing direct talks between the Taliban and the US.

The Taliban's negotiating team numbers 14, including five former inmates of the US prison on Guantanamo Bay, The Associated Press reported.

While the insurgents did meet with Afghan politicians outside the government in Moscow in February, they have steadfastly refused to meet with Ghani and his government officials.

After US-Taliban talks in February, Khalilzad, the US special representative, announced a "draft framework" for a peace deal, though he warned major hurdles remain.

(China Daily 04/20/2019 page7)