Far-west, Country in North America

The al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has maintained close ties with the Taliban despite the Taliban's assurance to the US to cut ties with the group, said a senior UN official."Senior figures remain in Afghstan, as well as hundreds of armed operatives," the coordinator of the United Nations monitoring team for Daesh, al-Qaida and the Taliban, Edmund Fitton-Brown, said Friday during a webinar as quoted by Tolo News.Tolo News further reported that the Taliban "consulted on regular basis" with al-Qaeda during the peace negotiations with the US. "[Al-Qaeda leader] Ayman al-Zawahiri remains close to the Taliban," he said. "The Taliban regularly consulted with al-Qaeda during the negotiations with the United States and they offered informal guarantees that would honor their historic ties with al-Qaeda."Taliban however rejected the claims and said that "certain intelligence groups" are attempting to disrupt peace in Afghstan.Meanwhile, US Special Representative for Afghstan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad in a conversation with US Institute of Peace said Iran wants "the US to remain engaged in the Afghan war and is not supporting the peace process in Afghstan," as reported by Tolo News"I think it's difficult to speak about Iran because there isn't one Iran, there are two Irans. There is foreign ministry Iran which says positive things and expresses ideas or makes statements that could be construed as supportive of a peace process, but there is another Iran that would like to keep the US entangled in a war that they would like to be unwinnable," said Khalilzad, as quoted by Tolo News.Even though the US Special Representative called Pakistan's efforts in the Afghan Peace Process as "positive", External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar warned that terrorism in Pakistan is publicly acknowledged by their own government."Terrorism from Pakistan continues and terrorism from Pakistan remains publicly acknowledged by their government as a policy that they are justifying. (It) makes it very hard to conduct normal relations with them," said Jaishankar at an online event hosted by the Asia Society.He added, "They've blocked connectivity between India and Afghstan...I think until we address that problem, this challenge of how do you have a normal relationship with this very unique neighbour, is a very troubling issue for our foreign policy."( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Far-WestFOLLOW

Far-west, Latest News

Researchers at Rush University Medical Center have found that opioid use might increase a person's risk of developing pancreatic cancer. ...

As the negotiations between the Afghanistan government and Taliban resumed several American policymakers have opined that the Taliban has changed but the Afghans have a different argument that the Taliban still believes in its "medieval, totalitarian ...

A study of 50,000 people conducted by Rockefeller University finds that brown fat in human body may protect against numerous chronic diseases. ...

The Westminster London District Magistrates' Court has rejected the bail application of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on the grounds that he had previously violated the bail conditions. ...

Filmmaker Mira Nair is planning to re-release 1991 'Mississippi Masala' film as an anthem for the United States Vice Presidential candidate Kamala Harris. ...

New York, Oct 19 Ski resorts in New York State will be allowed to reopen with 50 per ... ...

Unlike every year, Mintu Pal, a famous 53-year-old idol maker in West Bengal has experienced a 60 per cent loss in his business ahead of Durga Puja while Vinay Ganguram, owner of a 150-year-old sweet shop, intends to diversify his business so that it ...

The al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has maintained close ties with the Taliban despite the Taliban's assurance to the US to cut ties with the group, said a senior UN official. ...