Afghan Taliban to meet Pakistani premier next week

By Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AA) - U.S. and Afghan Taliban negotiation teams will meet in Pakistan's capital Islamabad next Monday, Feb. 18, including a meeting with the prime minister, a Taliban spokesman said on Wednesday.

According to the Taliban statement, their negotiation team will visit Islamabad at the formal invitation of the government of Pakistan to meet U.S. and Pakistani officials.

"Our negotiation team will also meet with the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to hold comprehensive discussions about Pak-Afghan relations and issues pertaining to Afghan refugees and Afghan businessmen," said Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman.

He added that after the Islamabad meeting, peace talks will resume on Feb. 25 in Qatar as per an agreement reached during a previous meeting with U.S. officials.

Earlier, U.S. and Taliban technical teams were expected to meet on Feb. 14 in Doha, Qatar, but later the Taliban suggested the technical teams meeting in Islamabad as most of their new negotiation team members are in Pakistan.

On Tuesday, the Taliban announced a 14-member negotiation team led by Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai to hold talks with top U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. The team also includes Anas Haqqani, the jailed younger brother of Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the powerful Haqqani network.