Afghanistan and Taliban to Hold Second Round of Talks, Pakistani Officials Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/29/world/asia/afghanistan-and-taliban-to-hold-second-round-of-talks-pakistani-officials-say.html

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PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Afghan government officials and Taliban representatives are set to meet again for a second round of peace talks on Friday, two Pakistani government officials said Tuesday.

The meetings, to be held in Pakistan, are expected to be more substantive than the previous round of talks, raising hopes that the two sides will be able to find a way to end the conflict in Afghanistan, the senior Pakistani officials said.

The first round of talks was also held in Pakistan on July 7. But the entire process “is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace initiative,” said one Pakistani official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity “out of deference” to the Afghans. “We are here to facilitate.”

“The second round will be more substantive and detailed,” the senior government official said. “The fact that the two sides are reconvening in less than a month is encouraging.”

But another official cautioned about raising “the expectations bar too high.”

“This is just the beginning of a long process,” the official said, who also requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. “Both sides will have to understand each other’s positions and make a determined effort to meet halfway.”

“We expect both sides to discuss confidence-building measures, including steps to bring down the level of violence before they move on to discuss the more complex issues to end the conflict in Afghanistan,” he said. He said that Afghan officials seemed ready to hold open discussions with the Taliban.

The official said that efforts were being made to persuade the Taliban to send more senior representatives to the talks. “If this happens, the Afghan government would also raise the level of their delegation,” he said.

In the first round of talks, the Afghan government was represented by Hekmat Khalil Karzai, the deputy foreign minister, and the Taliban delegation was led by Mullah Abbas Durrani.

Asked about reports of a rift within the Taliban ranks over the peace talks, the official said there could be some groups that oppose them. “There are people who want to talk, and there could be people who would want to fight,” the official said.

“But the group that has the largest number of fighters on the ground and is able to make an impact will have the sway,” the official said. “And that is the mainstream group that is holding the talks.”