US Senate panel chief queries viability of peace process
KABUL (Pajhwok): An influential American lawmaker has urged the Biden administration to rethink the May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan.
Bob Menendez, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, also accused the Taliban of failing to honour their commitments under the peace deal they signed with the US in Doha last year.
Reuters quoted Menendez as telling journalists on Tuesday” “I’m very concerned about the viability of the peace process in Afghanistan.”
With intelligence reports indicating the militant movement’s failure to meet its promises, the deadline for troop withdrawal would have to be reconsidered, he argued.
“If the Taliban are confirmed as not meeting their commitments, which I personally believe they’re not, then we may have to reconsider the May 1 deadline,” the Senate panel chief remarked.
About 2,500 US soldiers are currently stationed in Afghanistan. Under the US-Taliban pact, all troops will have to be pulled out by May 1.
PAN Monitor/mud
Foreign troop exit: Berlin averse to May deadline
KABUL (Pajhwok): Germany believes the exit of international forces from Afghanistan should be linked to the success of ongoing peace talks in Doha.
Foreign Minister Heiko Maas suggested on Tuesday the pullout of foreign troops from the war-devastated country should not be based the May deadline.
Under the US-Taliban peace pact of February 29, 2020, all foreign troops are supposed to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of April this year.
However, the Biden administration, hinting at a review of the agreement, says the militant movement has failed to honour its commitment to reducing violence.
Speaking at an event organised by German media outlets, the minister argued the intra-Afghan peace talks would not conclude at the end of April.
The Associated Press quoted Maas as saying: “Our fear is that the Taliban could use this as a reason to leave the peace talks and seek a military solution.”
The foreign minister maintained: “We must couple both processes, the withdrawal of foreign forces with the peace negotiations. We don’t have to hang on slavishly to the date of the end of April…”
Behind the US, Germany is the second-biggest troop contributor to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
Maas called for an agreement with the United States, the Afghan government and the Taliban on the issue of troop pullout.
PAN Monitor/mud
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