US, Taliban to hold more peace talks
The United States and the Taliban will open fresh negotiations next week, the US negotiator said Saturday, as he voiced hope for progress in ending America's longest war. Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative on Afghanistan, said the two sides would start their seventh round of talks on June 29. Khalilzad is hoping to negotiate a deal under which the United States would withdraw troops first sent after the September 11, 2001 attacks. In turn, the Taliban would guarantee that Afghanistan would not be used as a staging ground by Islamist extremists such as al-Qaeda.
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