Afghan president makes new deal for negotiations

President Hamid Karzai will not persist in arranging peace talks with the Taliban without the United States stopping their negotiations with the group. The president was angered by an announcement the previous day declaring the United States and the Taliban would be meeting for peace talks without representation from the Afghan government. In a statement from his office, he explains the Afghan High Peace Council would “neither attend nor participate in the talks” until the Afghan government has control over the matter.

President Karzai made the announcement on Wednesday, declaring he had ended all talks with the United States on a new security deal. He believes the talks cannot occur with fighting still occurring between the nations.