Afghanistan has suspended security talks with the United States in apparent protest over Washington's proposed direct talks with the Taliban.
The White House had announced on Tuesday that political representatives of the Taliban would meet Afghan and U.S. officials at the militant outfit's new office in Qatari capital Doha in the coming days to pave the way for peace and reconciliation talks with Afghan government representatives.
Washington reportedly agreed to drop some preconditions that have previously held back negotiations over the future of Afghanistan.
Office of the Afghanistan National Security Council on Wednesday said in a statement that the Afghan government suspended the negotiations, currently underway in Kabul between Afghan and U.S. delegations on the Bilateral Security Agreement, "in view of the contradiction between acts and the statements made by the United States of America in regard to the Peace Process."
Media reports quoting Afghan President Hamid Karzai's spokesman said the decision was taken in protest against U.S. plans to hold direct talks with the Taliban in Qatar.
The spokesman said Karzai was offended by the title of the new Taliban office in Doha, "The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan." Karzai is the head of a nation officially known as the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which does not recognize Taliban.
The dramatic developments, which could create a dent in U.S.-Afghan efforts to jointly fight terrorism in Afghanistan, comes a day after the Afghan National Security Forces took the lead for security across the country. On Tuesday, Karzai announced a list of the fifth and final group of Afghan provinces, cities and districts to undergo security transition in the coming months.
The U.S. government has been negotiating a bilateral security agreement with their Afghan counterparts, which would set the terms for the future presence of U.S. troops in Afghanistan once their current mandate expires by the end of 2014.
Karzai had indicated after reviewing the U.S. draft security agreement in April that his government is not in a hurry to sign the deal, saying that Afghanistan will fully echo its national interests in the agreement.
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