Taliban Signal to ‘Conclude an Agreement’ With US: Khalilzad

The U.S. Envoy arrived in Doha, the capital of Qatar, to resume talks with the Taliban representatives.
A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid said in a tweet that U.S. and Taliban delegates would resume their peace negotiation at around 10 am on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Khalilzad said that the U.S. is “pursuing a peace agreement not a withdrawal agreement; a peace agreement that enables withdrawal.”
“Our presence in Afghanistan is conditions-based, and any withdrawal will be conditions-based,” he said in a tweet.
“The Taliban are signaling they would like to conclude an agreement. We are ready for a good agreement,” the U.S. Envoy added.
It comes as the U.S. is preparing to withdraw thousands of troops from Afghanistan as part of an initial peace deal to end the long-term conflict in the war-weary country.
According to the Washington Post, the Trump administration is preparing to reduce its troops in Afghanistan from nearly 14000 to between 8000 and 9000.
The agreement would require the Taliban to broker a peace deal directly with the Afghan government, and give assurances the country won’t be used as a launching pad for international terror attacks, the report said.