Taliban appoints top leader into talks with US

KABUL AFP Jan25, 2019- The Taliban have appointed a co-founder of the movement as the new head of their political office in Doha, where talks have been held since Monday with US officials seeking to end 17 years of conflict in Afghanistan.   

 “The esteemed Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar has been appointed ... head of the political bureau,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement released late Thursday.   

 “This step has been taken to strengthen and properly manage the ongoing negotiations process with the United States,” he added.   

The announcement comes as the insurgents said Thursday they had held four straight days of talks with US officials in Doha. It was not immediately clear if the negotiations were ongoing Friday.   

The duration of the talks, described as “unprecedented” by analysts, has raised hopes of an imminent agreement that could pave the way to peace talks.   

But Washington, which confirmed on Tuesday that talks were being held in Qatar between its envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad and representatives of the Taliban, has made no comment since.