Afghan peace talks dead; US to keep up pressure

WASHINGTON — Talks on bringing peace to Afghanistan are on hold, and the United States will keep pressuring Taliban militants for significant commitments while providing military support to Afghan troops, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday.

US President Donald Trump unexpectedly announced Saturday that he had canceled peace talks with the Taliban's "major leaders" at Camp David, Maryland after the group claimed responsibility for a Kabul attack last week that killed a US soldier and 11 other people.

The US has recalled US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad to Washington to chart the path forward, Pompeo said in appearances on Sunday news shows. Asked on "Fox News Sunday" whether Afghan talks were dead, Pompeo said, "For the time being they are."

US diplomats have been talking with Taliban representatives for months about a plan to withdraw thousands of American troops in exchange for security guarantees by the Taliban.

US and Taliban negotiators struck a draft peace deal last week that could have led to a drawdown in US troops from America's longest war, one of Trump's foreign policy objectives.

Asked about the Camp David meeting scheduled for Sunday, Pompeo said Trump decided to get personally involved to advance the agreement.

"President Trump ultimately made the decision," Pompeo told Fox. "He said, 'I want to talk to (President) Ashraf Ghani. I want to talk to these Taliban negotiators. I want to look them in the eye. I want to see if we can get to the final outcome we needed.'"

After news emerged of the Camp David scenario, Trump was criticized for having planned to host on US soil a militant group that has killed U.S. troops and sheltered al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after the Sept 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

"Never should leaders of a terrorist organization that hasn't renounced 9/11 and continues in evil be allowed in our great country. NEVER. Full stop," US Representative Adam Kinzinger of Illinois tweeted on Saturday.

REUTERS