Kabul-Afghanistan (PMG):

Reporter: Sayed Mujtaba Sadat

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said at the hearing Meeting of the Senate Budget Allocation Committee that the national unity government will play a pivotal role in any peace deal with the Taliban. Mr. Pompeo, in response to Linsey Graham, chairman of the Senate Allocation Committee who asked the Trump Administration would give America and the world a guarantee that the Afghan government will not be marginalized in these ongoing talks? “I must say that the Afghan government will play a pivotal role in any deal with the Taliban because they are in the center of the crisis,” he added.

These statements come as the Taliban reject the meeting with government officials once again and the group has called the National Unity Government a puppet state. According to reports released yesterday, the head of President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani chief of staff office met with Taliban deputy Mullah Bradar and the Qatari political office deputy in Doha. In addition, the Taliban have announced by releasing a new newsletter that they are not willing to participate at the Peace Consultative Loya Jirga Meeting, as it is a forum for the continuation and survival of the work of National Unity Government in Afghanistan.