Taliban co-founder heads to Pakistan as U.S. envoy visits

The Taliban delegation led by Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the group's founders, was due to discuss "important issues" with Pakistani officials in the capital, Islamabad, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.

The U.S. embassy confirmed that the top U.S. negotiator in the talks, Special Representative for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad was in Islamabad "this week" for consultations following discussions between the U.S. and Pakistan at the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week. However, it did not say if Khalilzad was still in Pakistan on Wednesday or if he planned to meet the Taliban officials.

"These consultations follow discussions held between the United States and Pakistan during the United Nations General Assembly in New York last week," a spokesman told Reuters via email.

A senior Taliban source in Pakistan told reporters that the group was aware of Khalilzad's visit and was ready to meet him.

"We have not backtracked from talks," the source added. "It was America who backtracked."

Another senior Taliban militant said it would be "up to Mullah Baradar, who is leading the delegation, to decide whom they would like to talk to." Pakistani media reported that the head of NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Scott Miller, was also visiting Islamabad. His spokesman declined to confirm the report.

The visits come as Afghanistan awaits the results of last weekend's presidential election which will decide whether President Ashraf Ghani will win a second five-year term, fending off a challenge from his top rival, Abdullah Abdullah.

Afghan security watches the streets outside a polling station in a key Presidential election in Kabul, Afghanistan, September 28, 2019. /VCG Photo

Both are seeking a strong mandate to steer the war-torn country through darkly uncertain times and possible negotiations with the Taliban, who have long dismissed the government in Kabul as a "puppet" of the U.S.

One of the aims of the U.S.-Taliban talks was to convince the latter to talk to the government in hopes of achieving a durable peace agreement. But Ghani's administration was thoroughly sidelined in the negotiations.

On Wednesday, the government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi repeated comments that Kabul must be at the center of any peace process. "No progress will be imminent if a peace process is not owned and led by the Afghan government," he tweeted.

Preliminary election results are not due until October 19, and if the leading candidate doesn't secure more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two will run off in a second round.

Election officials put the turnout at around 27 percent, a historic low as voters stayed away due to the Taliban threat of attacks, a muted election campaign and concerns over fraud.

(With input from AFP, Reuters)

(Cover: Mohammad Nabi Omari (C-L), Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai (C-R), and former Taliban intelligence deputy Mawlawi Abdul Haq Wasiq (R) walk with another Taliban member during the second day of the Intra Afghan Dialogue talks in the Qatari capital Doha, July 8, 2018. /VCG Photo)