ISLAMABAD: The United States expressed optimism on Tuesday about the revival of the suspended Afghan reconciliation process, but said that the resumption of dialogue would be the militant group’s call.

“We are absolutely hopeful that the process can be resumed. … It is for Taliban to decide on talking to their government,” acting US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Jarrett Blanc told a group of journalists as he concluded his visit to Kabul and Islamabad.

He spoke shortly before the Taliban announced that late Mullah Omar’s family had announced allegiance to the new chief, Mullah Akhtar Mansour.

Know more: Efforts underway to revive stalled Afghan peace talks: Sartaj Aziz

The envoy, however, hinted that the Taliban would be able to take a decision on engaging with the Afghan government in peace talks after ending their transition process.

He avoided giving any timeframe for the resumption of talks, which were suspended in July after confirmation of Mullah Omar’s death, but said: “There was every hope that the Taliban would soon return to dialogue”.

Mr Blanc said the Afghan government was already willing to restart the process and there were no other issues blocking its recommencement.

He regretted that the Taliban were “launching vicious attacks that were killing Afghan civilians”.

He looked confident that the mistrust between Afghanistan and Pakistan would not be an impediment.

He said the US was helping the two countries improve their relations. But, at the same time, he noted that during his visit to the two capitals, he witnessed a strong sense of commitment to improve bilateral ties.

Improvement in Pak-Afghan ties that began after President Ashraf Ghani’s election suffered a major setback when militants launched massive attacks in Kabul last month. Frustrated over the growing violence, President Ghani and other leaders had said that they did not want Pakistan’s facilitation while talking to the Taliban.

Pakistan had hosted the first round of the dialogue on July 7. Many credited the start of the reconciliation process to improvements in ties earlier this year.

The US diplomat said both Pakistan and Afghanistan “firmly recognise” that security of each other depended on the other side.

“Militancy is a regional problem and no one country can address it alone,” Mr Blanc said as he stressed on cooperation against terrorism.

He said Islamabad and Kabul were working to address mutual security concerns. “Pakistan and Afghanistan can cooperate on security. … The immediate issue is that of militancy. I am convinced that the two countries can work together to deal with the problem.”

HAQQANI NETWORK: In an indication of lingering concerns about the Haqqani network being spared in Pakistani military’s operation in North Waziristan, the special envoy said the issue was part of Washington’s dialogue with Islamabad. “It is a continuing dialogue.”

He reiterated the call for action against the Taliban and Haqqani network.

“We have been very clear with the government of Pakistan that terrorist networks, who launch attacks from here need to be disrupted.”

Mr Blanc said the US expected that Pakistani security forces would not discriminate between militants of various flavours and go after everyone threatening peace and security both here and Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2015

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