The head of the Taliban’s political office in Doha, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar met UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, Deborah Lyons, the office’s spokesman, Naeem Wardak, said on Wednesday.
Earlier in the day, it became known that Lyons had met with the head of the Afghan negotiating team in Doha, Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, and discussed the current situation with the intra-Afghan talks.
“A meeting took place between the political deputy and head of the political office of the IEA [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and the accompanying delegation & SRGS Deborah Lyons and her team yesterday evening,” Wardak wrote on Twitter.
The spokesman noted that the sides discussed the intra-Afghan peace process, the potential of removing members of the militant group from the UN blacklist, and Washington’s proposal to include Taliban representatives in the Afghan government.
“Along with the current situation of Afghanistan, the Intra-Afghan negotiations, the implementation of the Doha agreement, the release of the prisoners, the termination of the Blacklist, and the proposal offered by the US were discussed and she was told by the IEA that the proposal was under our consideration,” Wardak said.
The spokesman added that the Taliban’s delegation called on the UN to promote the fulfillment of the US-Taliban agreement.
Last February, the Taliban and the Afghan government reached a landmark agreement, mediated by the United States, paving the way for peace talks, which began in the Qatari capital of Doha on September 12.
The Doha negotiations failed to put an end to the confrontation on the ground. On the contrary, Afghanistan has witnessed a spate of bomb attacks and clashes in recent months, with the military continuing to regularly conduct operations against Taliban operatives.
