Ankara
The Afghan government and the Taliban are “very close” to breaking a deadlock in peace talks, a senior Afghan official said on Saturday, adding that the US troops’s military presence was still necessary.
Talks began in Doha on September 12, but there were soon issues over agenda disagreements, the basic framework of discussions and religious interpretations.
“We haven’t moved towards discussion of the main substance of negotiations, the main agenda,” Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council for National Reconciliation, said in an interview with AFP during a visit to Turkey.
But, giving cause for optimism, he added: “We are close, we are very close. Hopefully we pass this phase and get to the substantial issues” including security.
