KABUL, 13 August 2021, (TON): A government negotiating source told media that Afghan government negotiators in Qatar have offered the Taliban a power-sharing deal in return for an end to fighting in the country.

The source said “yes, the government has submitted a proposal to Qatar as mediator. The proposal allows the Taliban to share power in return for a halt in violence in the country.”

A government source also told media that the Afghan government offered the Taliban a share in power so long as the rising violence in the country comes to a halt.

US special envoy for Afghanistan Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad is in Qatar for an international meeting on the escalating situation in Afghanistan.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price earlier said that two key meetings were being held in Doha this week, bringing together representatives from Afghanistan, the region and beyond and from multilateral organisations.

Price had said “the participants will press for a reduction in violence, a ceasefire and a “commitment by the part of these regional and broader governments and multilateral and international institutions not to recognise any government that is imposed by force.”

Khalilzad is representing Washington in the talks in Doha.

Pakistan has sent its special envoy Muhammad Sadiq and its ambassador to Kabul, Mansoor Khan. The Afghan government delegation is being led by Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.