7th round of US-Taliban talks to begin on Saturday

Kabul, June 28 (IANS) The seventh round of peace talks between the US and Taliban will begin in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday amid renewed hopes of a potential ceasefire, the media reported.

The Afghan government has expressed optimism that the two-day meeting will also help kick off intra-Afghan talks, reports TOLO News.

"I am hopeful that this time there are some breakthroughs so that the way is opened for intra-Afghan talks which are the key issue," Haji Din Mohammad, deputy head of the High Peace Council, said on Thursday.

"We hope that these talks lead to the start of intra-Afghan talks so that peace and stability can prevail in Afghanistan through political dialogue," said Omid Maisam, deputy spokesman to Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.

Informed sources said the Taliban has never supported an irresponsible exit of the foreign forces from Afghanistan and that there were hopes that the two sides reach some type of agreement on a responsible withdrawal of foreign troops from the country in their upcoming discussion.

"The important issue is that if the Americans exit then it will be a responsible withdrawal. A possible agreement between the Taliban and them (American side) will also determine a timeframe for this," TOLO News quoted Mawlavi Qalamuddin, a former Taliban commander who served as head of the regime's religious police chief when the group was in power, as saying on Thursday.

In May, US and Taliban negotiators wrapped up the sixth round of talks in Doha, but failed to finalise the draft agreement, which will now be the main item on the agenda for the seventh round.

US Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who leads the American delegation in the talks, had tweeted after the sixth round that merely holding the talks was not "sufficient when so much conflict rages and innocent people are dying".