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Pompeo arrives in Kabul to try to revive flagging Afghan peace talks Pompeo visits Kabul to try to revive flagging Afghan peace talks
(about 8 hours later)
Attempt to save stalled Afghanistan peace process comes as most world leaders have curtailed travel due to coronavirus US secretary of state arrives after many leaders curtail travel because of coronavirus
The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, has arrived in Kabul on an urgent visit to try to move forward a US peace deal signed with the Taliban last month, a trip that comes despite the coronavirus pandemic, at a time when world leaders and statesmen are curtailing official travel. Mike Pompeo flew to Kabul on Monday in an attempt to salvage a short-lived peace agreement, making the unscheduled trip to Afghanistan despite the dangers of international travel spreading coronavirus.
Since the signing of the deal, the peace process has stalled amid political turmoil in Afghanistan, with the country’s leaders squabbling over who was elected president. The US secretary of state, who faces discontent among his staff for the state department’s handling of the pandemic, spent nearly nine hours in the Afghan capital, where he held meetings with the incumbent president, Ashraf Ghani, and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who is disputing Ghani’s official victory in last year’s elections. Both men have held their own separate inauguration ceremonies.
President Ashraf Ghani and his main rival in last September’s presidential polls, Abdullah Abdullah, have both declared themselves the country’s president in duelling inauguration ceremonies earlier this month. “We are in a crisis,” a senior state department official told CNN, explaining Pompeo’s decision to fly to Kabul.
During his visit, Pompeo is expected to try to help end the impasse, which has put on hold the start of intra-Afghan peace talks that would include the Taliban. Those talks are seen as a critical next step in the peace deal, negotiated to allow the United States to bring home its troops and give Afghans the best chance at peace. The rift in Kabul and the breakdown of a planned prisoner exchange with the Taliban have stalled progress toward peace talks following a temporary ceasefire agreed on 29 February, under which the Taliban said it would not attack US troops as they withdrew from the country.
The US and Nato have already begun to withdraw some troops from Afghanistan. The final pullout of US forces is not dependent on the success of intra-Afghan negotiations but rather on promises made by the Taliban to deny space in Afghanistan to other terror groups, such as the insurgents’ rival Islamic State group. US and allied troops have begun withdrawal, but Taliban attacks on Afghan targets have almost returned to their pre-ceasefire level and there is no immediate prospect of political negotiations between the insurgents and government officials that were supposed to start on 10 March.
But within days of the US - and the Taliban signing the peace deal in Qatar on 29 Feb, Afghanistan sunk into a political crisis with Ghani and Abdullah squaring off over election results and Ghani refusing to fulfil his part of a promise made in the US-Taliban deal to free up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The insurgents were for their part, to free 1,000 Afghan officials and soldiers they hold captive. The exchange was meant to be a goodwill gesture by both sides to start the negotiations. The two sides held talks via Skype on Sunday, but there was no sign of a breakthrough on the core disagreement. The Afghan government wants a staggered release of prisoners, but the Taliban are demanding Kabul free 5,000 of its fighters at once, as the US agreed in February, apparently without full consultation with the Afghan government.
The urgency of Pompeo’s surprise visit was highlighted by the fact that the state department has warned US citizens against all international travel, citing the spread of the coronavirus. Pompeo has cancelled at least two domestic US. trips because of the outbreak, including one to a now-cancelled G7 foreign ministers meeting that was to have taken place in Pittsburgh this week. That meeting will now take place by video conference. Pompeo was expected to fly from Kabul to Doha, where Taliban negotiators are based, on Monday night.
Pompeo’s last overseas trip in late February was to Doha, Qatar, for the signing of the US-Taliban peace deal he is now trying to salvage. The official number of coronavirus cases in Afghanistan stands at 34, but there is very limited testing and the disease is expected to be much more widespread, posing dangers of an epidemic among prisoners in particular.
As the virus pandemic has worsened, causing many nations to close their borders and airports and cancel international flights, Pompeo and the state department have come under increasing criticism for not doing enough to help Americans stranded overseas get home. “Everyone clearly understands the coronavirus threat makes prisoner releases that much more urgent,” the US special envoy for Afghan peace talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, said in a tweet.
On Saturday, just hours before he departed on his unannounced trip to Afghanistan, Pompeo was roundly attacked on social media for a photo he posted to his personal Twitter account of him and his wife, Susan, at home working on a jigsaw puzzle with a scene from the Tom Cruise film Top Gun on a TV screen. Pompeo staked his diplomatic reputation on the deal with the Taliban, which he signed in Qatar on behalf of the US. He took the decision to fly at a time when face-to-face diplomacy has been reduced to a minimum. A meeting of foreign ministers from the G7 group of wealthy democracies, due to take place in Pittsburgh this week, will be held via teleconference instead. The state department has urged US citizens not to travel.
“Susan and I are staying in and doing a puzzle this afternoon. Pro tip: if you’re missing the beach, just throw on Top Gun!” the caption read. Pompeo has been criticised for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Press reports quote US diplomats as complaining they have not received clear guidance on how to handle the crisis, leaving embassies to come up with their own procedures. There has also been criticism over delays in repatriating US citizens trapped abroad, and a lack of transparency over the extent of coronavirus among US diplomats.
Many of the critics took Pompeo to task for apparently not working while thousands of Americans are struggling to find transportation home from various countries. The first confirmed case at state department headquarters in Washington was confirmed on Thursday. Most Washington staff are now working from home, but have been told that any time spent on childcare would be deducted from their pay.
Washington’s peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been trying to jumpstart talks between Afghans on both sides of the conflict – the next critical step in the US-Taliban deal – tweeted early Monday that the two sides are talking about the prisoner exchange. “We’re trying to get clarity,” a US official said. “We don’t have enough information, frankly, from the leadership and we’re are looking for more transparency and more information about what’s going on.”
The intra-Afghan negotiations were never going to be easy but since Washington signed the peace deal with the Taliban, it has struggled to get the Afghan government to at least offer a unified position. “What we’re asking for is basically facts and figures,” the official said. “We still don’t know exactly how many members of the foreign service have been confirmed positive.”
Pompeo’s visit is also extraordinary for the fact that the US, like the United Nations, had earlier said it would not again be drawn into mediating between feuding Afghan politicians. While the Afghan election committee this time gave the win to Ghani, Abdullah and the election complaints commission charged widespread irregularities to challenge Ghani’s win. Eric Rubin, the president of the American Foreign Service Association said: “Our foreign service colleagues serving around the world are anxious for details about the spread of the virus and how it has affected Americans serving their country overseas. We have called on the leadership of our agencies to provide maximum transparency, and to share as much information as possible with our colleagues, while respecting confidentiality concerns.
In Afghanistan’s previous presidential election in 2014, also marred by widespread fraud and deeply disputed results, Ghani and Abdullah emerged as leading contenders. Then-US secretary of state, John Kerry, mediated between the two and eventually cobbled together a so-called unity government, with Ghani as president and Abdullah holding the newly created but equal in statue post of the country’s chief executive. “No one is asking for zero risk, and in fact our foreign service is committed to serving in dangerous and unhealthy situations when it is necessary to defend our country and its interests. At the same time, our people need to know that their leadership has their backs, and will do everything possible to keep them informed and supported in this difficult time.”
However, the Ghani-Andullah partnership was a difficult one, and for much of its five years triggered a parliamentary paralysis leading up to the September balloting. Diplomats deemed to be at high risk from the disease have been told they can leave their posts, but it has been left unclear which jobs, if any, they would be returning to, according to CNN.
Pompeo did little to allay claims of absent leadership during the health emergency when he posted personal tweets over the weekend of his family doing a jigsaw puzzle and watching television.
“Pro tip: if you’re missing the beach, just throw on Top Gun!” he said.