Taliban reaches no pact on deadline with US for Afghan peace

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Majahid said on Monday that the armed group has reached no agreement with the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad on a deadline to reach a peace deal for ending the war in Afghanistan.

In a statement sent to media outlets, Majahid confirmed that the US envoy met Taliban leaders in Qatar's capital Doha last week but reached no agreement on deadline to cut a peace deal for ending Afghanistan's lingering crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

"The three-day talks in Qatar were preliminary and positive, but no agreement reached in the talks," Majahid said, saying any reports about reaching agreement on formation of interim government or any other topic was baseless.

"We would share with the media if there were any progress," the statement added.

Khalilzad, a veteran diplomat and Afghan-born US special envoy for Afghanistan, who was tasked to accelerate the Afghan peace process and pave the way for holding direct talks between Taliban and the Afghan government, expressed hope here on Sunday on reaching a peace deal with the Taliban before the April 20 presidential elections next year.

--IANS

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