• Afghanistan: Amid a bloody election campaign, the US negotiates a controversial peace with the Taliban
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The United States and the Taliban are "at the door of an agreement" to end 18 years of conflict between them in Afghanistan, the Washington chief negotiator said Sunday at the end of a new round of discussions.

The two sides have met in Doha for a new round of negotiations in search of an agreement that the Taliban will give security guarantees in exchange for a strong withdrawal of the 13,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

"We are at the door of an agreement that will reduce violence and open the door for Afghans to sit together to negotiate an honorable and sustainable peace," tweeted the US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad , who added that he will travel to Kabul Sunday afternoon "for consultations", after the end of the eight days of negotiations of this ninth round.

The US negotiator has not clarified whether he already has a text ready to present to the Afghan authorities. Several officials have suggested in recent days that a trip to Kabul could be the sign of a positive result.

But the announcement of an agreement would not take place until the Afghan government and the main partners were informed, and US President Donald Trump gave his green light. "Despite the speculation, we still don't have any announcements to make," a spokesman for the US State Department in Washington told Afp after the Khalilzad tweets.

For its part, the Taliban spokesman in Doha Suhail Shaheen said Saturday that the agreement "is close to finalization", but has not detailed what obstacle remains to be resolved. Washington deployed troops in Afghanistan after the attacks of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington , carried out by the jihadist network Al Qaeda , which the former Taliban regime welcomed.

Washington currently intends to end its military participation, something that has been negotiating since at least 2018 with the Taliban.

"Always have a presence"

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said his country wants to close the deal before September 1. Afghanistan holds general elections that same month.

The key point is the withdrawal of more than 13,000 US troops from Afghanistan. It is the main claim of the Taliban, who in return only undertake that the territories under their control are not used by "terrorist" groups.

On Thursday, Trump said the United States would still maintain 8,600 soldiers in Afghanistan once the peace agreement entered into force. "We will reduce to 8,600 and then evaluate from there," Trump said, adding that his country will "always have a presence" in Afghanistan.

Some 2,400 US soldiers have died and some 20,000 have been injured since 2001 in Afghanistan. The text should also formalize the ceasefire, or at least a "reduction of violence."

According to Khalilzad, a peace agreement would help create "a sovereign and unified Afghanistan that will not threaten the United States, its allies or any other country."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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