Withdrawal of Forces from Afghan Will Be Done Only After Peace Deal, Says Khalilzad

Kabul [Afghanisthan], Apr 28 (ANI): The withdrawal of US forces from war-torn Afghanistan will be done only after peace is attained, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad has said."We are seeking peace and a political settlement, not a (forces) withdrawal. We want a peace which will provide the ground for withdrawal," Khalilzad told Tolo news."It is not true that the withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan will happen ahead of a peace deal," he said on Saturday.Saying Washington wants to end peace mission "responsibly," Khalilzad said: "We learned from the then USSR experience that withdrawal at that time led to bad happenings in Afghanistan...We don't want this to be repeated. Therefore, we insist that the four things should happen while the US presence in Afghanistan is relevant to these matters." Calling Taliban's spring offensive announcement a "mistake," Afghan-born US diplomat said: "I want to say that for the first time in the past 18 years, the United Nations Security Council condemned this act by the Taliban which never happened in the past... And this was one of the positive results of our efforts in Afghanistan."Khalilzad is in Kabul for his sixth peace talks with the Taliban. During his last round of talks in Doha in mid-March, the United States and the Taliban agreed on the draft on counterterrorism assurances and US forces withdrawal from Afghanistan. (ANI)

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