The Taliban group has confirmed that the deputy leader of the group Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has met with Markus Potzel, Germany’s special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.
According to a statement released by Taliban, the meeting between Mullah Baradar and the German delegation led by Mr. Potzel was organized in Doha on Saturday.
“Both sides discussed the current situation in Afghanistan, various aspects of a peaceful resolution to the Afghan issue and efforts of Germany in this regard,” the statement added.
The statement also added that Mr. Potzel has assured of Germany’s positive role in Afghan peace process while stressing on the need for maintaining regular contract with the political leaders of Taliban.
This comes as efforts are underway to find a negotiated political settlement to end the conflict in Afghanistan.
The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and Indonesia’s foreign minister Retno Lestari Priansari Marsudi had also met with Mullah Baradar in Doha earlier this month.
Taliban representatives in Doha, Qatar, have so far held six rounds of talks with American diplomats led by ambassador Zalamay Khalilzad, US special envoy for Afghan peace. The last round of their talks wrapped up last week as Khalilzad said they made “steady but slow” progress on key issues under debate. Khalilzad in a series of tweet said:”We made steady but slow progress on aspects of the framework for ending the Afghan war. We are getting into the ‘nitty gritty’. The devil is always in the details.”
He said the current pace of talks “is not sufficient when so much conflict rages and innocent people die”.
“We need more and faster progress. Our proposal for all sides to reduce violence also remains on the table,” Khalilzad added.
