Reuters: Washington calls on the Afghan president to postpone his inauguration ceremony

Reuters reported that the United States urged Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to delay his inauguration ceremony for a second term, due to fears that it could stoke an election dispute with his political rival and threaten Washington-sponsored peace efforts.

The agency quoted a source as saying that US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad - who has been in talks in Kabul since last week - wants rich people to delay his planned inauguration because of these concerns.

In Kabul, last week, a victory was announced in the disputed elections that took place on September 28, and it is planned to be sworn in on Thursday. Also, Abdullah Abdullah, a rival and former deputy, Ghani, announced his victory in the elections and is planning a parallel inauguration ceremony, according to Afghan media reports.

Reuters quoted a former Afghan official as saying that Khalilzad was pressuring Ghani to make him postpone the ceremony and was trying to persuade Abdullah Abdullah to do the same to preserve the peace process.

The United States has not recognized either of them winning the presidency, and the row threatens the Washington-sponsored peace process, which was strengthened last Saturday with the start of a partial truce for a week, until an agreement was signed between the United States and the Taliban on Saturday about the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan.

After signing the agreement, it is assumed that talks will begin among Afghans to reach a political settlement to end the decades-old war.

But the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah warns of the complications of forming a delegation to negotiate with the Taliban, a process that has already been subject to delay and conflict.

Reuters quoted the former Afghan official as saying that the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah "may extend to the negotiation process" even if a comprehensive delegation is formed to engage with the Taliban.

And US President Donald Trump has made the withdrawal of the nearly 13,000 American troops from Afghanistan a major goal of his foreign policy. Agreement with the Taliban to end the longest-running US war would give chances for Trump to be elected for a second term.