- publish: 19 February 2019
- time: 3:55 pm
- category: Politics
- No: 7093
Khalilzad: Negotiating team should be formed before Loya Jirga
US state department’s special representative for Afghan peace process Zalmay Khalilzad said in an interview that the national negotiating team should be created before holding consultative Loya Jirga.

Although Khalilzad did not comment on the Moscow peace meeting, he said, if the negotiating team is not formed, Moscow meeting will probably repeat.
According to Mr Khalilzad, the Taliban group is
responsible for the war, but the Afghan government has a responsibility as well.
“It is better the national negotiating team should be formed before Loya Jirga.
Taliban is the main responsible group for the war but the government has a
series of responsibilities too,” said Khalilzad.
The United States special envoy said that the Afghan government and the
political parties can work together to shape a good process for direct talks
between the government and Taliban.
On the other hand, Khalilzad added that it is expected from Pakistan to take practical steps towards the Afghan peace process and stressed that Saudi Arabia has a huge impact on Pakistan and can push Islamabad to take serious steps in this regard.
Speaking about his meeting with president Ghani, he
described it as a “formal private” meeting, adding that he does not want to say
much about it.
On the part of US – Taliban talks, he said “or various political reasons, the
next round of US-Taliban talks was decided to be held in Doha not in Pakistan”.