- Title: U.S., Russia to find ways to lift travel ban on Taliban leaders for peace talks
- Date: 23rd February 2019
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (FEBRUARY 23, 2019) (REUTERS) SPOKESPERSON FOR AFGHAN PRESIDENT ASHRAF GHANI, HAROON CHAKHANSURI, WALKING TO LECTERN AT NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) SPOKESPERSON FOR AFGHAN PRESIDENT ASHRAF GHANI, HAROON CHAKHANSURI, SAYING: "Any lifting of the ban or removing the Taliban from the blacklist will not be done without coordination with the Afghan government and its confirmation. Our condition is that if the face-to-face negotiations start and the Taliban were really willing to make peace, then the issue of lifting the travel ban on them could be discussed." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS JOURNALISTS ASKING QUESTIONS (SOUNDBITE) (Dari) PRESIDENT ASHRAF GHANI'S SPOKESMAN, HAROON CHAKHANSURI, SAYING: "The Qatar summit is a continuation of the meetings between Mr. Khalilzad (U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad) and Taliban representatives in Qatar. Their discussions on four issues including the withdrawal of U.S. troops and the Taliban's relationship with al-Qaeda and other terrorist networks will continue. The two other most important issues in discussion between Mr. Khalilzad and the Taliban are the comprehensive ceasefire and the beginning of direct talks with the Afghan government." AFGHAN FLAG PEOPLE LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 9th March 2019 15:51
- Keywords: Ashraf Ghani Taliban peace talks U.S. Russia peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad travel ban Afghanistan war
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001A2SXSUF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Saturday (February 23) that any exploration by Russia and the U.S. into securing travel waivers for Taliban members will not be done without Kabul's consent.
Haroon Chakhansuri made the remarks after Moscow and Washington agreed to explore options on securing travel waivers for Taliban negotiators to participate in talks to end the war in Afghanistan.
The development was revealed by U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad ahead ahead of a fresh round of peace talks scheduled on Monday (February 25).
Lifting the travel ban imposed over Taliban leaders by the United Nations has been one of the key demands of the hardline Islamic group that started negotiations with U.S. officials in 2018 to end the 17-year-old war.
Khalilzad, who is leading the peace talks with the Taliban, discussed the issue of lifting the travel ban for Taliban leaders with his Russian counterpart Zamir Kabulov in Ankara on Friday (February 22).
(Production: Samargul Zwak, Hameed Farzad) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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