Ghani Not Expected to Meet with Taliban while in Doha

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani is heading to Qatar for meetings with that country’s leaders but is not scheduled to meet with representatives of the Taliban, who are in the Qatari capital Doha for peace talks with Afghani negotiators. The Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed aide to Ghani as saying: “Several meetings are planned to discuss efforts for deepening Afghanistan-Qatar ties and mutual cooperation in various areas.” The aide added that the president would meet with his negotiators, yet the agency also quoted what it called “a senior Western diplomat overseeing the ongoing peace process” as saying it was “clear that Ghani will not meet the Taliban officials [on hand for the talks] as there has been no reduction of violence and they continue to kill innocent civilians.” Since the peace talks began, there have been several deadly attacks in Afghanistan involving truck bombs or suicide bombers that have been blamed on the Taliban, although the Islamist group has never claimed responsibility. There have also been several clashes with troops that the Taliban have acknowledged.