In Peace Overture, Afghan President Offers Passports to Taliban
The statement also said that "military strategies which have repeatedly been tested in Afghanistan over the past 17 years will only intensify
and prolong the war." Under President Trump, the American strategy for ending the war has entailed expanding a campaign of airstrikes and putting pressure on Pakistan to force the Taliban to negotiate with the Afghan government.
The peace talks known as the Kabul Process began last year
and are intended to demonstrate unity in the international community for negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
28, 2018
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan renewed a call on Wednesday for the Taliban to join peace talks,
offering to treat the insurgent group as a legitimate political party, though it has repeatedly rejected similar proposals.
There appears little chance of any breakthrough, but the Afghan government made the offer to demonstrate to an international audience
that it is willing to negotiate, and to encourage those participating in the conference to pressure the Taliban to accept.
In the latest overture, Mr. Ghani said his government would provide the Taliban with an office in the capital, Kabul; passports for its members; help resettling militants’ families;
and assistance in scrubbing the names of top commanders from international terrorist blacklists.
But in a statement on Monday, they said they had asked American officials to talk
directly to their political office, and not through the Afghan government.