Secretary of State
John Kerry arrived in Kabul today to meet with Afghan presidential candidates
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, as well as President Hamid Karzai, the
State Department announced.
Kerry will follow-up
on his July visit to Kabul, encouraging both candidates to help accelerate the
audit process of the election results, and make progress on talks to form a
unity government when the results are announced, said Jen Psaki, the
spokeswoman for the State Department.
Kerry’s surprise trip to Kabul came in the same day that his top deputies, Under Secretary Sherman and Deputy Secretary William Burns, went to Geneva to resume nuclear talks with Iranian negotiators; so much for slow August!
UPDATE: Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah reaffirmed their previously-negotiated commitments to the audit process and the formation of a national unity government by the end of the month, Secretary Kerry announced after holding talks with both candidates and with President Karzai. The winner will lead the government, but the loser will also have a key role.
Kerry’s surprise trip to Kabul came in the same day that his top deputies, Under Secretary Sherman and Deputy Secretary William Burns, went to Geneva to resume nuclear talks with Iranian negotiators; so much for slow August!
UPDATE: Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah reaffirmed their previously-negotiated commitments to the audit process and the formation of a national unity government by the end of the month, Secretary Kerry announced after holding talks with both candidates and with President Karzai. The winner will lead the government, but the loser will also have a key role.
2 comments:
They fly around so much because they get fewer results these days. truth!
Last time he was in Kabul, Kerry practically prevented the takeover of the government threatened by Abdullah supporters and created the audit process. Let's hope this trip would strengthen arrangements for the first peaceful transition of power in Afghan history, from Karzai to either Ghani or Abdullah.
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