US envoy Khalilzad in Islamabad to discuss Taliban involvement in Afghan peace talks

Washington’s envoy tasked with finding a peaceful end to Afghanistan’s 17-year war is in Islamabad to seek the help of the new government in Pakistan in bringing the Taliban to the negotiating table, the US Embassy said Tuesday. A former US ambassador in Kabul, Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Pakistan from neighboring Afghanistan, AP reported. His tour of the region will also include Middle East stops in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In Afghanistan, he met with President Ashraf Ghani. Khalilzad, who was also born in Afghanistan, first served in Kabul as a special envoy of President George W. Bush following the 2001 ouster of the Taliban and then as Washington’s ambassador to Afghanistan. Khalilzad has often accused Islamabad of fomenting violence in Afghanistan by supporting the Taliban.