U.S. attempts to restart peace talks with Taliban

Mixed signals

For months, through the summer fighting season, combat was the only communication. U.S. feelers sent indirectly to the Taliban drew no response, according to U.S. officials involved in the process.

Gallery

Life and war in Afghanistan: January 2013: Photos of everyday life in Afghanistan as coalition forces attempt to transfer responsibilities to Afghan troops.

Latest from National Security

Snowden extradition may be complicated process

Sari Horwitz and Jia Lynn Yang

If criminal charges are filed, the U.S. is likely to face many hurdles to bring the admitted leaker home for trial.

U.S. to open talks with Taliban

Karen DeYoung

The U.S. hopes the formal dialogue in Qatar will be the first step toward a negotiated end to the Afghan war.

Google, responding to Edward Snowden’s leaks, challenges gag order on NSA

Max Ehrenfreund

Court filing came the same day as intelligence officials, including Gen. Keith Alexander, spoke to Congress.

Last fall, with Obama reelected and the 2014 withdrawal deadline looming, the administration began gearing up for another try. During a late November meeting of Obama’s top national security aides, reluctant senior military officials were told that negotiations were a top priority and that the White House was ready to take anticipated heat from Congress over a prisoner release.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and others conveyed the message to Pakistan.

Cooperation from the Taliban was far from assured. But U.S. intelligence indicated that at least some of its leaders might be prepared to respond to an attractive offer, including freeing the prisoners.

In an ideal world, one senior administration official said later, representatives of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council, which includes members from government, the opposition and civil society, would sit down with the Taliban. The United States would hold separate talks to arrange the prisoner exchange.

Signs were mixed on the eve of Karzai’s U.S. trip. His foreign minister said Doha had been approved for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Taliban said it was “ready to establish a political office outside the country to come to an understanding with other nations,” but made no mention of talking to the Afghan government.

On Jan. 11, Karzai and Obama announced the agreement on Doha as a venue for negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council. Qatar was urged to “facilitate this effort.”

Four days later, Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jasim al-Thani said at a news conference that the office would open “as soon as possible” to “facilitate dialogue between the Taliban and other political parties in Afghanistan.”

But the carefully brokered deal stalled when Karzai renewed his demand for written assurances on the talks that Qatar — and the Taliban — remain unwilling to provide.

Kevin Sieff contributed to this report from Kabul.