Saying that Secretary of State John Kerry broke commitments stating that the Taliban would not be seen as a government in exile because of a flag that was placed above the new office in Qatar, Afghanistan broke away from holding talks scheduled in Qatar on Thursday.
One reason for the cancellation of the talks between the United States, Afghanistan and the Taliban was because of the display of the Taliban flag and a plaque stating, ‘Political Office of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.”
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The United States was to act as a broker as the two entities sat down for their first direct negotiations on the future of Afghanistan. The opening of an office for the Taliban and readiness on the part of the U.S. is widely seen as forward movement in the peace process.
During the talks with the Taliban, the Taliban is expected to ask for the return of former Taliban commanders. Many of the officials in the U.S. Congress are opposed to such a plan. In return, the U.S. would like the return of the only known U.S. prisoner of war held by that group. That person is Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl.
On Wednesday, angered by the official status that was given to the Taliban, Afghanistan said that they would not take part in the talks and halted negotiations on the 2014 troop pact. Those negotiations cover what troops will be left behind after the troop withdrawal scheduled for 2014. Afghanistan was also angered that the Taliban and the U.S. wished to hold bi-lateral talks before the Afghan government was brought into the negotiations.
The Taliban office in Qatar made a change late Wednesday that cleared up the office’s official designation as the “Political Bureau for Afghan Taliban in Doha.”
After the official name change of the office, Afghanistan decided that they would join in talks if the U.S. wrote a formal letter supporting the Afghan government.
On Tuesday, well after plans for a meeting were made, four U.S. soldiers were killed in a Taliban rocket attack. Two rockets were fired near the Bgram air base at Kabul.
Officials in the State Department announced that Secretary Kerry would be traveling to Qatar on Friday and Saturday to meet with Qatari officials but said he will not be meeting with the Taliban on that visit.
There is no official news as to the new date of the talks, but an unidentified administration offical said that they will probably happen in the next few days.