Taliban officials cut the ribbon at the official opening ceremony of a political office in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.
The United States and Afghanistan will begin peace talks with the Taliban at an office in Qatar as early as next week. This new plan was announced as President Hamid Karzai and his country's forces assumed full responsibility for Afghan security Tuesday. "Our country is in the process of a historic event, and from now on, always, all the security responsibility will be conducted and performed by our forces and will be led by our own forces," Karzai declared to military leaders and diplomats at the handoff outside Kabul.
Earlier the Taliban, in a statement announcing their plans for peace talks and an office in Qatar, said they would not allow anyone to threaten or harm other countries from Afghan soil – a move senior US administration officials described as an important first step to the Taliban severing ties with al-Qaida.
The US has agreed that a formal rejection of al-Qaida by the Taliban leadership would now be a "negotiating aim" rather than a precondition for talks. It will also seek a commitment from the Taliban to end its insurgency in Afghanistan and recognise women's rights in the country.
"This is an important first step but it will be a long road," said one senior US official. "We have long said this conflict won't be won on the battlefield, which is why we support the opening of this [Doha] office."
If the talks begin, they will be a significant step in peace efforts that have been locked in an impasse for nearly 18 months, after the Taliban walked out and accused the United States of negotiating in bad faith.
But the Taliban may have other goals in moving ahead.
Their language made clear that they sought to be dealt with as a legitimate
political force with a long-term role to play beyond the insurgency. In that
sense, in addition to aiding in talks, the actual opening of their office in
Qatar — nearly a year and a half after initial plans to open it were announced
and then soon after suspended — could be seen as a signal that the Taliban’s
ultimate aim is recognition as an alternative to the Western-backed government
of President Hamid Karzai.
By agreeing to negotiations, the Taliban can “come out
in the open, engage the rest of the region as legitimate actors, and it will be
very difficult to prevent that when we recognize the office and are talking to
the office,” said Vali Nasr, a former State Department official who is the dean
of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
The United States, already heading toward its military
exit, has little to offer beyond prisoner exchanges, and the Taliban are “not
trying to help our strategy,” Mr. Nasr warned. “They’re basically trying to put
in place their own strategy.”
The Taliban overture coincided with an important
symbolic moment in the American withdrawal: the formal announcement on Tuesday
of a complete security handover from American troops to Afghan forces across the
country. That shift had already become obvious in recent months as the Afghan
forces had tangibly taken the lead — and as the Taliban had responded by
increasing the tempo of attacks against them.