PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - The Taliban will not attend planned peace talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia this month, and want to shift the venue to Qatar, Taliban officials said on Sunday, seeking to fend off Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in talks.

The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019.

Leaders of the hardline Islamic militant group have rejected the Kabul government’s offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favor of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

“We were supposed to meet U.S. officials in Riyadh next week and continue our peace process that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month,” a senior Taliban member based in Afghanistan told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have canceled the meeting in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The Taliban want to change the venue for the talks to Qatar, he said, the political headquarters of the militant group that is fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan and the site for earlier talks.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group has decided to cancel the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not provide information about a new meeting venue.

The United States embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another senior Taliban leader said the group had explained to Saudi Arabia that it was not possible for the Taliban to meet the Afghan government at this stage.

“Everyone is aware of the fact that the Afghan government wanted the U.S. and its allies not to leave Afghanistan and we have paid a heavy price to expel all foreign forces from our country,” he said.

“Why should we talk to the Afghan government?”

The Taliban regards the United States as its main adversary in the Afghan war and views direct talks with Washington as a legitimate effort to seek the withdrawal of foreign troops before engaging with the Afghan government.

The war in Afghanistan is America’s longest overseas military intervention. It has cost Washington nearly a trillion dollars and killed tens of thousands of people.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified since Taliban representatives began meeting with Khalilzad, an Afghan-born, U.S. diplomat last year. Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times, but fighting has not subsided.</s>U.S., Taliban to Hold Soon Next Round of Talks on Afghan Peace

The U.S. officials are expected to hold soon next round of talks with the Taliban representatives on the Afghan peace process, sources close to the Taliban said.

Last month, the U.S. officials met with the Taliban delegation in UAE amid diplomatic moves to press for a negotiated end to 17-years of war in Afghanistan.

The special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, led the U.S. team in the talks that included envoys from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia as well as the host country.

However, sources close to the Taliban told Ariana News that there will be no representatives from the UAE and Saudi Arabia in the new round of U.S.-Taliban talks which is expected to take place in the near future.

“I believe that the next meeting between the United States and the Taliban will yield positive results,” said Nazar Mohammad Mutmayen, a political analyst based in Kabul.

This comes as Saudi Arabia was expected to host Taliban’s multilateral talks with the U.S. in Jeddah with the presence of Kabul delegation and envoys from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

However, these countries apparently failed to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table for talks with the delegation of the Afghan government.

Afghanistan ‘s High Peace Council said that they would not dispatch a delegation to Jeddah meeting for as long as the Taliban give them assurance of meeting their negotiating team.

“If we attend this meeting, the talks should be between the Afghan government and the Taliban on the Afghan peace process,” the council’s spokesman Sayed Ehsan Tahiry said.</s>The Taliban wants to change the venue of scheduled peace talks with the United States this month from Saudi Arabia to Qatar over Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in the negotiations, members of the Taliban declared on Sunday.

The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019. Leaders of the hardline Islamic militant group have rejected the Kabul government’s offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favor of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

Qatar, home to the Taliban’s political headquarters, has long hosted and legitimized political leaders from the terrorist organization.

“We were supposed to meet US officials in Riyadh next week and continue our peace process that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month,” a senior Taliban jihadi based in Afghanistan told Reuters on condition of anonymity, adding, “The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have canceled the meeting in Saudi Arabia.”

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and the UAE are the only countries that officially recognized the terrorist group’s regime during its five years of oppressive rule in Afghanistan and are believed to have significant influence over the group.

Another unnamed senior Taliban insurgent indicated that the narco-jihadis explained to Saudi Arabia that it was not possible for the group to meet Kabul at this stage.

“Everyone is aware of the fact that the Afghan government wanted the U.S. and its allies not to leave Afghanistan and we have paid a heavy price to expel all foreign forces from our country,” he told Reuters. “Why should we talk to the Afghan government?”

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, reportedly confirmed that the group had canceled the meeting in Saudi Arabia but did not reveal the location of the new venue.

The U.S. has not commented on the change of peace talks venue.

Mujahid recently told Voice of America (VOA) its negotiations with the United States for ending “the war and illegitimate occupation” of Afghanistan remain on track.

“There has been no interruption in the dialogue process with America because ending the occupation of Afghanistan is now a compulsion for them [U.S.],” Mujahid told VOA.

In the wake of reports that the U.S. is considering withdrawing half of the estimated 14,000 troops deployed to Afghanistan, American Vice President Mike Pence recently told Fox News that the commander-in-chief is in the “process of evaluating” pulling some service members from the war-ravaged country.

The White House had previously dismissed news reports of a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.

On social media, Mujahid reportedly appeared optimistic about the series of U.S.-Taliban negotiations in recent months.

“We can say with certainty that they indeed proved effective. They have given birth to hope that should the negotiations continue with such speed, then it is possible that foreign aggression be brought to an end, following which peace will be established,” the Taliban spokesman declared.

He defended the narco-terrorist group’s stance for not holding talks with the Afghan government, dismissing Kabul as the product of “foreign occupation” of Afghanistan, with no “authority or ability” to end to the war.

The Taliban is fighting to restore strict Islamic law, or sharia, in Afghanistan. Trump administration officials have come out in support of a ceasefire and relegitimizing the Taliban as an official political power. U.S. troops removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in late 2001.

The Trump administration has made “political reconciliation” between Kabul and the Taliban the primary tenet of its strategy to end the war, which started in October 2001.

In its latest assessment of the war, the Pentagon said:

In recent months, the United States, via Trump’s Afghan reconciliation envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, has intensified efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.

Marking a major departure from previous administrations long sought by the Taliban, the U.S. is negotiating directly with the group. Khalilzad has met with the group on several occasions. The Taliban generates most of its funding from trafficking heroin, some of which is partly fueling the unprecedented fatal drug overdose epidemic in the United States.

The U.S. has conceded that it will not see a military victory in Afghanistan, home to the highest concentration of terrorist groups (20) in the world.</s>After the Taliban’s multilateral talks with US officials in Abu Dhabi, it was decided that the next round of negotiations be held in the Saudi city of Jeddah, reports Tasnim News Agency.

Zabihollah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, said the group has no plans to hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia, but will continue its negotiations with the United States.

He said the Taliban will soon decide on its next round of talks with Washington authorities and will announce the details to media.

Last week, media reported that the next round of the Taliban’s multilateral talks with the US would be held in Jeddah with envoys from Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in attendance. However, these countries have apparently failed to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table for talks with Afghanistan.

The Afghan government had already announced that if the Taliban refused to hold Talks with Kabul, the Afghan government would not dispatch a delegation to the Jeddah meeting.

This comes as the Taliban had already reiterated that its position had not changed and it would not sit down for talks with the Afghan government.

A former Taliban official says the group refused to hold talks with the US in Jeddah, and some people said the next meeting would be held in Saudi Arabia. He said those people made those remarks to gain concessions, but it is not yet clear where the next meeting would be held.

Many experts believe the Taliban do not trust Saudi Arabia because Riyadh had tried before to challenge the legitimacy of this group by holding a meeting of Muslim scholars.</s>PESHAWAR: The Taliban will not attend planned peace talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia this month, and want to shift the venue to Qatar, Taliban officials said on Sunday, seeking to fend off Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in talks.

The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019.

Leaders of the hardline Islamic militant group have rejected the Kabul government’s offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favour of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

“We were supposed to meet US officials in Riyadh next week and continue our peace process that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month,” a senior Taliban member based in Afghanistan told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

“The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have cancelled the meeting in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The Taliban want to change the venue for the talks to Qatar, he said, the political headquarters of the militant group that is fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan and the site for earlier talks.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group has decided to cancel the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not provide information about a new meeting venue.

The United States embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another senior Taliban leader said the group had explained to Saudi Arabia that it was not possible for the Taliban to meet the Afghan government at this stage.

“Everyone is aware of the fact that the Afghan government wanted the US and its allies not to leave Afghanistan and we have paid a heavy price to expel all foreign forces from our country,” he said. “Why should we talk to the Afghan government?”</s>The Taliban will not attend planned peace talks with the US in Saudi Arabia this month, and want to shift the venue to Qatar, Taliban officials said on Sunday, seeking to fend off Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in talks.

 The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible cease-fire in 2019.

 Leaders of the hardline Islamic militant group have rejected the Kabul government’s offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favour of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

 “We were supposed to meet US officials in Riyadh next week and continue our peace process that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month,” a senior Taliban member based in Afghanistan told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

 “The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have cancelled the meeting in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

 The Taliban want to change the venue for the talks to Qatar, he said, the political headquarters of the militant group that is fighting to restore strict Islamic law in Afghanistan and the site for earlier talks.— Reuters</s>The Taliban has said that its engagement with the United States for negotiating an end to "the war and illegitimate occupation" of Afghanistan remains on track, ruling out once again any direct peace talks with the government in Kabul

 

 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA a new round of discussions with the U.S. is in the cards but dates and a venue have not yet been determined.

He was responding to and rejected as "false claims" reports that insurgent negotiators were planning to hold direct talks with Afghan officials in Saudi Arabia later this month.

 

 U.S. special representative for Afghanistan reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad, held two days of marathon talks in mid December with a high-powered Taliban delegation in Abu Dhabi, where envoys of Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and the host country also were in attendance.

 

 The Pakistani government took credit for arranging the meeting in the United Arab Emirates following Khalilzad's preliminary interactions with Taliban representatives based in Qatar. 

 

 "There has been no interruption in the dialogue process with America because ending the occupation of Afghanistan is now a compulsion for them [U.S.]," said Mujahid.

He asserted that if talks fail to achieve the desired results and the war continues with the Taliban "the Americans would have no option but to be driven out of Afghanistan."

 

 In a separate statement issued via Taliban social media, Mujahid appeared upbeat, however, about the outcome of the series of negotiations held with the Americans.

 

 "We can say with certainty that they indeed proved effective. They have given birth to hope that should the negotiations continue with such speed, then it is possible that foreign aggression be brought to an end, following which peace will be established," the Taliban spokesman said.

 

 He defended Taliban's stance for not holding talks with the Afghan government, dismissing them as the product of "foreign occupation" of Afghanistan, with no "authority or ability" to end to the conflict.

President Donald Trump reportedly is weighing options about whether to significantly reduce the more than 14,000 forces currently stationed in Afghanistan.

 

 The reports have worried officials in Kabul and foreign critics who maintain the drawdown would leave no incentive for the Taliban to halt fighting and seek a negotiated settlement to the war.

 

 Mujahid mocked Afghan officials for urging Trump to review his drawdown plans, saying "the Afghan people saw the quislings at Kabul letting out screams."

 

 The Taliban maintains the U.S. is its main adversary in the Afghan war and views direct talks with Washington as a legitimate effort to seek withdrawal of foreign troops before engaging in an intra-Afghan peace dialogue.

 

 The 17-year war in Afghanistan is the longest overseas American military intervention in history. It has cost nearly a trillion dollars and killed roughly 150,000 people. Civilians, security forces, including more than 2,400 U.S. troops, and insurgents are among those killed.

 

 U.S. military officials appear to be positioning themselves to tackle various possible outcomes of the talks with the Taliban.

 

 General Austin Scott Miller,who commands U.S. and NATO-led non-combat Resolution Support (RS) mission in Afghanistan,told his troops last Tuesday to be ready to deal with "positive processes or negative consequences." He nevertheless underscored the need for a political settlement to end the Afghan war.

 

 "Peace talks [are] out there, regional players are pressing for peace, the Taliban is talking about peace, the Afghan government is talking about peace," Miller told dozens of NATO soldiers during a routine exercise session at RS headquarters in Kabul.

 

 "Are [the RS] able to adapt? Are we able to adjust? Are we able to be in the right place to support positive processes and negative consequences, that's what I ask you guys to think about in 2019," Miller said.</s>Kabul - The Taliban will not attend planned peace talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia this month and want to shift the venue to Qatar, reported Al Jazeera on Sunday, quoting a Western news agency.

The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019.

Taliban leaders have rejected the Kabul government's offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favour of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

"We were supposed to meet US officials in Riyadh next week and continue our peace process that remained incomplete in Abu Dhabi last month," a senior Taliban member based in Afghanistan told Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity.

"The problem is that leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates [UAE] wanted us to definitely meet the Afghan government delegation, which we cannot afford to do now, and we have cancelled the meeting in Saudi Arabia," he said.

The Taliban want to change the venue for the talks to Qatar, he added, the political headquarters of the group.

Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group decided to cancel the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not provide information about a new meeting venue.

The United States Embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Another senior Taliban leader said the group had explained to Saudi Arabia that it was not possible for the Taliban to meet the Afghan government at this stage.

"Everyone is aware of the fact that the Afghan government wanted the US and its allies not to leave Afghanistan and we have paid a heavy price to expel all foreign forces from our country," he said. "Why should we talk to the Afghan government?"

The Taliban regards the US as its main adversary in the Afghan war and views direct talks with Washington as a legitimate effort to seek the withdrawal of foreign troops before engaging with the Afghan government.

The war in Afghanistan is the US's longest overseas military intervention. It has cost Washington nearly $1 trillion and killed tens of thousands of people. Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified since Taliban representatives began meeting with Khalilzad, an Afghan-born, US diplomat last year.

Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times, but fighting has not subsided.

Afghan special forces have rescued 12 people from a Taliban prison in the country's south on the same day that the militants kidnapped a group of 15 government employees in the west, officials said.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS), the country's main intelligence agency, said in a statement that special forces stormed a Taliban prison in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province and rescued 12 people who had been held hostage.

The NDS did not provide any further details on the raid in Helmand, a Taliban stronghold that is the centre of the country's opium production.

The statement came as officials in the western province of Farah said Taliban militants kidnapped a group of government employees.

Provincial council members Khair Mohammad Norzai and Dadullah Qaneh told the DPA news agency that the workers were kidnapped as they were heading to their offices on the outskirts of Farah city, the provincial capital.

Farah, located along the border with Iran, has been the scene of fierce clashes between government forces and the Taliban in recent months.</s>PESHAWAR (Pakistan): The Taliban will not attend planned peace talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia this month, and want to shift the venue to Qatar, Taliban officials said on Sunday, seeking to fend off Riyadh’s push to include the Afghan government in talks.

 The upcoming negotiations, the fourth in a series aimed at ending the 17-year war in Afghanistan, are scheduled between the leaders of the Taliban and U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad to discuss the withdrawal of foreign forces and a possible ceasefire in 2019.

 Leaders of the hardline Islamic militant group have rejected the Kabul government’s offer for direct talks, despite growing international pressure in favor of the Western-backed Afghan government having a seat at the table.

 Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the group has decided to cancel the meeting in Saudi Arabia, but did not provide information about a new meeting venue.

 The United States embassy in Afghanistan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 The Taliban regards the United States as its main adversary in the Afghan war and views direct talks with Washington as a legitimate effort to seek the withdrawal of foreign troops before engaging with the Afghan government.

 The war in Afghanistan is America’s longest overseas military intervention. It has cost Washington nearly a trillion dollars and killed tens of thousands of people.

 Diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict have intensified since Taliban representatives began meeting with Khalilzad, an Afghan-born, U.S. diplomat last year. Officials from the warring sides have met at least three times, but fighting has not subsided. (Reuters)</s>NEGARISH: U.S., Taliban to Hold Soon Next Round of Talks on Afghan Peace
Taliban officials say that they will not attend peace talks scheduled for next week in Saudi Arabia because they "cannot afford" to meet the Afghan government delegation at present.