Afghanistan-Taliban could talk peace
KABUL, Afghanistan – After more than a decade of warfare, negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban are set to begin, officials, diplomats and experts said as President Ashraf Ghani declared that peace is closer now than at any time since the war began following the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
On Saturday, Ghani said that “the grounds for peace have never been better in the last 36 years” of continuous Afghan wars, including 13 years of conflict with the Taliban.
Since taking office in September, Ghani has rolled out a complex strategy aimed at forcing the Taliban leadership to accept that their cause – replacing his government with an Islamist emirate – is hopeless. He has enlisted the support of regional countries believed to protect, fund and arm the Taliban, including Pakistan which is pressuring the insurgents to open a channel for peace negotiations, officials and diplomats said.
Afghan officials, who spoke on condition they not be identified, are saying hopes are high that a dialogue, as a precursor to full-scale peace negotiations, will begin as early as March.
Nigerian troops retake town
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria – Nigerian troops retook a major border town and killed scores of Boko Haram fighters Saturday, Nigeria’s military said, although witnesses also reported the Islamic extremists killed scores in attacks on other villages.
Defense Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Chris Olukolade said troops seized back the garrison town of Baga, on Lake Chad and the border with Cameroon, after a fighter jet bombarded the area and soldiers advanced on booby-trapped roads by dismantling some 1,500 land mines.
Many insurgents drowned in trying to escape as soldiers stormed into Baga early Friday, he added.
The victory, which the AP was unable to verify independently, comes amid a major multinational push to halt the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria’s home-grown extremist group, which has been attacking neighboring Chad, Cameroon and Niger.
Greece to submit reforms list by Sunday
ATHENS, Greece – Greece will submit a list of reforms to be agreed with its creditors Sunday, the country’s finance minister said Saturday.
“We are in the process of compiling the list of reforms for the institutions,” finance minister Yanis Varoufakis told reporters Saturday evening, after an inner cabinet meeting under prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
Following weeks of accusations and distrust, Greece and its creditors in the 19-nation eurozone reached an agreement Friday to extend the country’s rescue loans, a move that should dramatically ease concerns it was heading for the euro exit as soon as next month.
The agreement means that Greece will avoid going bankrupt, at least over the four months of the extension. To get the money though, the Greek government has to present a series of unspecified economic reforms that are deemed acceptable by creditors and rooted in Greece’s previously enacted bailout agreement – something the government had promised not to do.
U.S. warns Iran on nuclear talks
GENEVA – With only weeks left to the deadline to reach a first-stage nuclear deal with Iran, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday that “significant gaps” remained and warned that America was ready to walk away from the talks if Tehran doesn’t agree to terms demonstrating that it doesn’t want atomic arms.
Kerry spoke after the Iranian Atomic Energy chief Ali Akbar Salehi and U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz added their muscle to the talks for the first time to help resolve technical disputes standing in the way of an agreement meant to curb Iran’s nuclear programs in exchange for sanctions relief for the Islamic Republic.
But Kerry warned against undue optimism. Salehi’s and Moniz’s presence is no “indication whatsoever that something is about to be decided,” he said. “There are still significant gaps.”
World powers and Iran have set an end of March deadline for a framework agreement, with four further months for the technical work to be ironed out. The talks have missed two previous deadlines, and President Barack Obama has said a further extension would make little sense without a basis for continuing discussions.
Associated Press
