KABUL Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah showed no sign Tuesday of ending their bitter feud, even after it cost the impoverished nation $1 billion in US aid — with yet more on the line. The massive cut was announced Monday after an exasperated US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited Kabul in a bid to resolve the standoff that has seen Abdullah proclaim himself president despite Ghani officially winning last year’s controversial poll. Pompeo, who lashed out at their “failure” to come to an agreement, said the US would immediately cut $1 bil lion and was “prepared” to pull another $1 billion in 2021, with further cuts possible after that. Pompeo’s statement came as he flew home from a fruitless day-long effort in Kabul to end competing claims to the presidency by Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah and win their agreement to form “an inclusive government.” The harshly worded announcement at the end of the mission he undertook underscored how badly stalled the US-led effort to end America’s longest war and decades of strife in Afghanistan has become. The United States “deeply regrets” that Ghani and Abdullah were “unable to agree on an inclusive government,” said Pompeo, adding that “their failure has harmed US-Afghan relations and, sadly, dishonours those Afghan, Americans, and Coalition partners who have sacrificed their lives and treasure.” The US and the Taliban signed a landmark deal last month that was supposed to pave the way for talks between the Afghan leadership and the insurgents, but with Kabul unable to agree who is in government, the talks have stalled. Ghani appeared in a televised address on Tuesday to reassure Afghans that “the US reduction in aid will have no direct impact on our key sectors”, adding that his government would try to satisfy the US “through talks and negotiations”.
