Trump declares Afghanistan peace talks ‘dead, as far as I’m concerned’, days after claiming to be on cusp of deal

President Donald Trump said Monday that negotiations over US troop withdrawals from Afghanistan are dead, two days after he called off a secret meeting at Camp David with Afghan and Taliban leaders to secure a deal.

“They’re dead,” Mr Trump told reporters outside the White House, referring to the negotiations. “They’re dead. As far as I’m concerned, they’re dead.”

The chief envoy to the talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, said last week that an agreement “in principle” had been reached, under which the United States would partially withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in exchange for the Taliban renouncing al-Qaida, which had orchestrated the 2001 attacks.

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