
The US president Donald Trump, for the first time, talked to the leader of Taliban political office over a phone call. The US president called on the Taliban leader ahead of the signing of the Peace deal, the Afghan Taliban stated.
The Taliban spokesperson Zabiullah mujahid reported, “Trump told Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar that U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo would soon speak to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to remove obstacles to the implementation of the deal”.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US diplomat and some members of the Talian office were present in a 35-minute phone call, he added.
Mujahid said, “The Taliban leader assured Trump of ‘positive bilateral relations’ in the future if the deal is implemented”.
On his part, Trump assured that the US will support Afghanistan in the reconstruction of war-hit regions while maintaining that the withdrawal of forces is in the best interest of the warring sides.
Before, Trump announced he would meet Taliban leaders soon.
Mujahid said, “Baradar welcomed the call and said if the U.S. implements the peace deal, the Taliban and Afghan people will have positive bilateral relations with Washington in the future”.
The Taliban head emphasized that the US president must protect the agreement and make sure that no one disregards the terms of the contract or act against it.
The statement said, “Barader assured the U.S. President that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan intends to maintain good bilateral relations with the U.S. and other countries around the world”.
On the other hand, president Ghani announced that the administration is not committed to releasing 5,000 Taliban prisoners.
Ghani informed reporters “The release of detainees is not in the domain of the U.S. Only the Afghan government has that authority”.
Suhail Shaheen, The Taliban political spokesperson in response said the release of prisoners was the initial step in building trust and confidence to go ahead with other important terms of the peace accord.
“As per the agreement, both sides would release the prisoners by March 10. We are committed to our promise to release Afghan soldiers and police personnel. The U.S. is obliged to free our 5,000 prisoners”, Shaheen told the news agency.
He asserted, “Intra-Afghan dialogue will take place only after the release of the prisoners”.–Worldwide News