US urges Taliban to commit to ceasefire, appoint negotiating team

The request came during the UN-backed conference on Afghanistan in Geneva, where President Ashraf Ghani named the government’s team to negotiate with the Taliban.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale said that the “time has come to plan for an Afghanistan at peace.”
Hale said that the Afghan government had offered peace talks without preconditions, established an action plan and roadmap, appointed its negotiating team and initiated ceasefire, but a “Taliban commitment to a peaceful outcome is long overdue.”
He called on the Taliban to commit to a ceasefire ad appoint an authoritative negotiating team.
Efforts for Afghanistan peace accelerated with US appointed Zalmay Khalilzad as a special envoy in this regard in September. The diplomat has met the Taliban two times and hopes for a peace deal before Afghanistan presidential election on April 20.
The Taliban has rejected talks with the Afghan government and on Wednesday it said that it was negotiating with US.
Hale said that U