A top adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday expressed hope that a preliminary understanding with the Taliban is reached before September 1.

Waheed Omer, the president’s senior adviser on public and strategic affairs, said that the Afghan government and its international partners will work together to reach some understanding with the Taliban in less than two months.
Referring to an intra-Afghan dialogue conference which is expected to kick off tomorrow Sunday in Qatar, Omer said that those who travelled from Afghanistan will inform the Taliban about “current situation” and will exchange views with the group.
He said that the Afghan government and the United States had close understanding on the meeting, adding that the president had spoken over the phone with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad for an hourand ahalf earlier in the day.
US and Taliban paused their seventh round of talks in Doha due to the intra-Afghan dialogue conference.
The talks focus on Taliban’s counter-terrorism assurances and foreign troop withdrawal.
Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said that they were happy about the progress so far.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during a visit to Kabul hoped that a peace deal is reached before September 1.
The Taliban, however, have refused to directly with the Afghan government.
Omer said that Afghanistan will reach lasting peace when a legitimate government represents the people in negotiations. For that, holding September 28 presidential elections is necessary, he said.