DOHA, Qatar -- Organizers canceled talks between Afghan leaders and Taliban insurgents that were scheduled to begin Friday, dealing a major setback to a U.S.-led peace process aimed at ending nearly 18 years of warfare.
The first talks between the two sides were postponed Thursday, then officially called off by sponsors in the Qatari capital, amid a rash of disputes among Afghan officials, Taliban leaders and Qatari meeting hosts over the size and composition of the Afghan delegation.
There was no indication when the talks would be rescheduled, but it appeared unlikely in the immediate future. The peace process has failed to make progress in part because the Taliban had refused to meet with Afghan officials until now.
"Despite tireless and well-intentioned efforts of all parties, a shared understanding on how to achieve inclusivity couldn't be reached," tweeted Sultan Barakat, a scholar in Doha whose institute organized the talks. "This doesn't reflect a lack of will to deliver #peace but clearly the moment is not yet right."
In Kabul, the government of President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement Friday morning that blamed the government of Qatar for not accepting a list of proposed Afghan delegates and instead proposing a list that was "not balanced" and "a disrespect to the national will of the Afghan people."
The Taliban had insisted that any Afghan officials participate only as private individuals so as not to confer legitimacy on a government the insurgents call an American puppet regime.
Officials in Kabul had announced a final list of 250 delegates on Tuesday that included politicians and civic leaders from across Afghan society, but Taliban officials objected to its large and unwieldy size, prompting a hurried effort to pare down the delegation. But by late Thursday, that effort had collapsed amid arguments over who should be included or excluded.
The planned meeting in Doha had been widely hailed as a potential first step toward peace talks between the Taliban insurgents and their fellow Afghans. The Taliban have long refused to recognize the Kabul government while holding peace discussions with U.S. officials in the Persian Gulf sheikhdom.
Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Friday that peace in his homeland will only be possible when Afghans from all sectors of society sit together and negotiate -- including the Taliban.
Karzai expressed disappointment that the Qatar meeting was postponed indefinitely after the falling out over who should attend.
Karzai would not blame either side for the cancellation, instead urging the United States to "put force behind it to make it [talks] happen."
Information for this article was contributed by Pamela Constable, Sayed Salahuddin and Sharif Hassan of The Washington Post; and by Kathy Gannon and Amir Shah of The Associated Press.
A Section on 04/20/2019