...Arabic for
students...
leaders in Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...With Khalilzad and his boss US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as well Taliban officials, hailing progress towards ending America’s longest war, he must now win over President Ashraf Ghani
...former chancellor of Kabul University, now president of Afghanistan. Before returning to Afghanistan in 2002 he was a scholar of political science and anthropology. He worked at the World Bank working on international development assistance. As Finance Minister of Afghanistan between July 2002 and December 2004, he led Afghanistan's attempted economic recovery until the Karzais stole all the money. ..- whose government the Taliban have so far kept out of the process.
Six days of talks ended in Qatar on Saturday with key parts of a draft pact mapped out, including an 18-month timeline for the withdrawal of foreign troops after the completion of a deal, according to Taliban officials.
The draft also includes assurances from the hardline Islamic group that it will not allow Afghanistan to be used by al-Qaeda and ISIS to attack the US and its allies - a core US demand. Similar assurances involving other groups are given to Pakistain in the draft pact.
The Taliban also want to be part of an interim government after any ceasefire, Taliban sources said.
It was not clear whether the draft described by the Taliban sources was acceptable to both sides or when it could be completed and signed.
A fresh round of talks between Khalilzad and the Taliban is expected to take place on February 25 in Doha, two senior Taliban sources said.
While he has not been directly involved up until now, Ghani’s role is likely to grow as a full deal gets closer and diplomacy intensifies.
Without going into detail on Saturday night, Khalilzad said in tweets that nothing could be agreed without an intra-Afghan dialogue and a full ceasefire.
"He (Khalilzad) will inform Ghani and his officials about all the developments, seek their opinion before travelling back to Washington," a senior Afghan official said on conditions of anonymity.
Khalilzad is also due to brief top regional diplomats on Monday morning.