Architect Of Botched Doha Agreement Angling For A Comeback

“Zalmay Khalilzad must never be allowed to make a political comeback to Afghanistan. Any effort to return Zalmay Khalilzad to a position of influence, or to allow him to shape Afghanistan's future, would represent a profound failure to reckon with responsibility,” he added.“Khalilzad has zero standing and reputation among the people of Afghanistan.”

Since at least 2009, Khalilzad has been involved with the initiatives of the Bayat Foundation, a US-registered philanthropic arm of the Bayat Group, a media and telecoms conglomerate led by Ehsan Bayat, notably consisting of Telecommunications Systems International (TSI) and the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC).

Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (Arch Inc.), a Virginia non-profit where Khalilzad serves as director and his wife, Cheryl Benard, serves as president, transferred $18,000 to the Bayat Foundation, according to the 2024 annual report obtained by Asia Times.

Ariana News, the group's media subsidiary, has faced accusations of censoring criticism of the Taliban and removing historical archives to appease the regime and prevent the Taliban from shutting down AWCC's cellular towers. In late 2021, TSI also engaged an American lobbying firm to navigate US sanctions exposure and maintain its business operations in Afghanistan.

Bayat's companies have maintained commercial relationships with the Taliban since the 1990s, including a 1998 joint venture with the Taliban government to establish wireless infrastructure. This same joint venture was later ratified by the interim Afghan government when Khalilzad served as US ambassador to the country.

Khalilzad's relationship with Bayat extends back to at least 2009, when he participated in a Bayat Foundation-hosted symposium in Washington and joined the organisation's“Afghan Trusted Network” as a charter member. He delivered the keynote address at the Bayat Foundation's inaugural gala in 2012.

The former diplomat has been a proponent of working with the Taliban since at least 1996, when he proclaimed that the Taliban does not practice“anti-US-style fundamentalism.” The comment came months after the group welcomed Osama Bin Laden to settle in Afghanistan, who went on to issue a declaration of war against American citizens.

“The Taliban does not practice the anti-US style of fundamentalism practiced by Iran,” Khalilzad wrote in the Washington Post.“We should... be willing to offer recognition and humanitarian assistance and to promote international economic reconstruction...It is time for the United States to re-engage [the Taliban].”

A year later, in 1997, while advising oil company Unocal, Khalilzad participated in hosting Taliban delegates in Texas for pipeline negotiations.

Such comments did not preclude Khalilzad from serving in various positions related to Afghanistan or Iraq under the George W Bush administration, and most under the first Trump administration.

During the 2019-2020 Doha talks, Khalilzad supported the release of 5,000 Taliban prisoners, many of whom immediately joined the militants to take over the country, and pressured the US government to release convicted narcotics trafficker Haji Bashir Noorzai.

The Doha agreement sparked backlash across the Afghan diaspora at the time, leading to later calls for the prosecution of Khalilzad and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.“The Doha Agreement was not a peace deal. It was a political surrender negotiated without transparency, accountability or democratic consent,” Nasimi said.

He added:“Both Zalmay Khalilzad and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai should be brought before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be prosecuted for war crimes and crimes against humanity, to ensure real accountability and justice for the Afghan people. We call for urgent and uncompromising action to investigate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's and Zalmay Khalilzad's roles in the political collapse that enabled the Taliban's return.”