Bayan News – Zalmay Khalilzad, former U.S. representative for peace in Afghanistan and one of the signatories of the Doha Agreement, states that this agreement led to historic negotiations among Afghans.
Khalilzad made these remarks in response to sharp criticisms from Republicans in the U.S. Congress. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, called the Doha Agreement a mistake and emphasized that Khalilzad sidelined the former Afghan government in these negotiations.
This former U.S. official deemed the criticisms from the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as incorrect, adding that the Doha Agreement laid the groundwork for historic negotiations between Ashraf Ghani’s government and the Taliban.
However, he acknowledged that after numerous meetings, the desired outcome for forming a new government was not achieved.
It is worth noting that the Doha Agreement was signed between Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the economic deputy prime minister of the Taliban, in Doha, the capital of Qatar.
According to this agreement, U.S. forces withdrew from Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, and without the Doha negotiations reaching a conclusion, Afghanistan was handed over to the Taliban.
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