Afghanistan- Khalilzad to meet with Afghan leaders on intra-Afghan talks amid growing election tensions

(MENAFN- Khaama Press) US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad is arriving in Kabul on Tuesday to meet with Afghan leaders on intra-Afghan talks, a source confirmed.

A reliable source speaking to Khaama Press said the U.S peace envoy is arriving in Kabul today to meet Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on intra-Afghan talks.

"Abdullah Abdullah was going to introduce more governors for the northern provinces, but he has temporarily halted his decision as Khalilzad has approached to meet him with a new concept to resolve election tensions and has urged for the intra-Afghan to start as scheduled", the source said.

Ex-President, Hamid Karzai and a tribal elder Abdul Rab Rasool Sayyaf met Abdullah Abdullah on Monday, proposing him to assign a delegation to negotiate with Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on resolving the existing tensions and stepping towards the intra-Afghan talks, he said.

Karzai and Sayyaf will also approach President Ghani for assigning a negotiating team, the source further added.

This comes as both Abdullah and Ghani have urged for taking an oath ceremony on the 8th and 9th March respectively.

However, the US-Taliban peace deal signed on Saturday after a seven-day ‘reduction in violence' period is said to be followed by the intra-Afghan talks in the next 10-15 days to negotiate on the next government and power-sharing formats after the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners which has been verbally agreed between the U.S and the Taliban.

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