Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad - Afghanistan's Hope for Peace

Special envoy… “drinking tea”

For more than a year, Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad's most frequent workplace has been the luxury clubs and the most magnificent five-star hotels in the capital of Qatar, Doha. The image of an elderly man with shiny gray hair, elegant in a dark suit, sitting drinking tea under a lavish arched window overlooking the Persian Gulf - that is Zalmay Khalilzad. Over those seemingly endless cups of tea, Zalmay Khalilzad is carrying out one of the most important missions of his diplomatic career: explaining, persuading, even cajoling the highest-ranking figures in the forces in Afghanistan, so that they can sit down together and sign landmark agreements with the war that has lasted nearly two decades in this South Asian country.

Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad is expected to bring peace to Afghanistan. Photo: Anadolu

Zalmay Khalilzad was nominated by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to US President Donald Trump to hold the position of Special Envoy for Afghanistan in September 2018. At that time, many commented that few people had more suitable qualities than Zalmay Khalilzad to take on this position.

Zalmay Khalizad has the wisdom and tact of an experienced diplomat, an understanding of the regional situation, and especially a burning desire to bring peace to the place where he was born - Afghanistan.

Born in 1951 in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad was among the first generation to study in the United States as an exchange student and then stay in the United States. After earning a doctorate from the University of California, Zalmay Khalilzad joined the US State Department in 1984 and quickly rose to the ranks of the highest-ranking Muslims in the administration. Under four presidents: Ronald Reagan, George Bush Sr., George Bush Jr., and now Donald Trump, Zalmay Khalilzad has held many important positions, including Ambassador to Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005 and Ambassador to Iraq from 2005 to 2007.

A negotiation between Mr. Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban in Doha, Qatar. Photo: Al Jazeera

In 2017, he was considered for the position of Secretary of State under President Donald Trump, but was decided to take the position of US Special Envoy to Afghanistan a year later. Many in Afghanistan still recall Zalmay Khalilzad's key role in bringing Hamid Karzai to power after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

With his Afghan roots, Zalmay Khalilzad has many friends, supporters, and close relationships with the Afghan elite. He speaks many tribal languages ​​in Afghanistan and understands the desires of the opposition forces in this country, including the Taliban. Therefore, just one month after assuming the position of US Special Envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad immediately embarked on his “tea drinking” mission with flights back and forth between the US and Doha, Qatar.

50 - 50 game

After the first talks in the fall of 2018, Zalmay Khalilzad has now convinced the parties to accept the roadmap for the Taliban to negotiate with the US first, agreeing on the terms of a ceasefire and troop withdrawal, before Afghanistan's internal forces can negotiate to shape the country's future. In the immediate future, the Taliban has committed to a seven-day reduction in violence, paving the way for the two sides to sign a more comprehensive peace agreement by the end of February. Some sources said that Zalmay Khalilzad is very confident and has identified a location for the upcoming signing ceremony.

Zalmay Khalilzad's strength is his relationship with many senior figures from different forces in Afghanistan. Photo: Al Jazeera

But that’s what the US and the Taliban have said publicly. For those familiar with the US-Taliban negotiations, the key to the success of Zalmay Khalilzad’s mission lies in the secret annexes. The first annex deals with the number of US troops that will remain in Afghanistan. Publicly, the Taliban are unlikely to officially announce that they will allow the US to leave troops in Afghanistan, but according to some sources, the secret agreement between the US and the Taliban is considering a number of 8,600 troops that will remain. The second annex commits not to prosecute the Taliban under terms like “terrorism” or “violent extremism.” The third annex provides for a mechanism to monitor the implementation of the agreement by the parties, in parallel with negotiations between internal Afghan forces.

But according to analysts, all agreements between the US and the Taliban so far still have many potential risks of collapse. Some sources said that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has appointed delegates to participate in internal negotiations to shape the future of the country, establishing the official role of the Taliban. However, the Afghan government still complains that Zalmay Khalilzad has made too many concessions to the Taliban by accepting the force's request that government representatives participate in internal negotiations as a normal political force like other forces, not as an internationally recognized government. Besides, there is still a big gap between the Afghan government and the Taliban on the future of Afghanistan: while the government wants Afghanistan to maintain democracy, the Taliban does not hide their desire to build Afghanistan as an Islamic kingdom, where religious authorities have greater power.

Taliban gunmen. Photo: AFP

The Taliban’s ability to control its factions is also a big question mark. Last September, when the US and the Taliban were full of hope about the possibility of signing an agreement at a meeting at Camp David, Maryland, a suicide bombing occurred in the capital Kabul, killing 12 people, including an American soldier. The attack angered President Donald Trump, who announced the cancellation of the secret meeting. This is a testament to the fragility of the agreement between the US and the Taliban if this force cannot find a way to control the factions from carrying out violent attacks.

Zalmay Khalilzad himself once said: “One lesson I learned during my time in diplomacy is that you have to be very careful when talking about the outcome of negotiations, especially when it involves major and long-term struggles of opposing forces.” But in a country like Afghanistan - where the conflict has lasted for a generation, whatever the outcome, Zalmay Khalilzad can still be proud that he has completed a difficult task that many of his predecessors considered “impossible”.