Coronavirus Threatens US Peace Plan, If Prisoners Exchange Delayed

The coronavirus threatens to unravel a US effort to end the war in Afghanistan if Taliban and government prisoners die in custody before they can be exchanged.

Ariana News Agency-

Keeping the U.S. peace plan on track has acquired particular urgency as the spring fighting season nears, two sources said, given the danger that accelerating violence could make it harder to contain the COVID-19 respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus.

While the pandemic has grounded other U.S. envoys, Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad last week flew to Doha, where the Taliban have an office, and Islamabad following a March 23 trip by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Doha and Kabul.

“If … a good number of prisoners on either side contract the disease or die in prison because of an outbreak, it will be a humanitarian issue and it will make intra-Afghan negotiations that much more difficult,” said a source familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

That both Pompeo and Khalilzad traveled as the COVID-19 disease spreads underscores the depth of Washington’s concerns that President Donald Trump’s effort to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan could collapse, depriving him of a foreign policy victory to trumpet ahead of the Nov. 3 U.S. presidential election.

“The fact that they came to the region is a clear sign that the president under no circumstances wants this deal to collapse,” said a Western diplomat on condition of anonymity.

It was crucial for U.S. diplomats to have face-to-face meetings to convey the gravity of the messages, the envoy added.

The State Department did not respond to requests for comment.