UN official to visit Qatar for 'crucial' Afghan meetings

A senior UN official will arrive in Qatar on Tuesday for meetings with Afghan government representatives and their Taliban counterparts in a bid to revive stagnant intra-Afghan peace talks.

Deborah Lyons, the UN's envoy for Afghanistan, is expected to meet with Zalmay Khalilzad, Washington's envoy, as well as several Qatari officials, according to sources who spoke to Reuters news agency.

The meetings are crucial since their outcome will determine the future of year-long talks in the Qatari capital, the sources said.

The peace negotiations, which began in September following a landmark agreement between Washington and the Taliban, will either be allowed to continue or face suspension.

Afghanistan's fate in mired in uncertainty as Washington has made clear it is considering all options on withdrawing its troops by a May deadline stipulated by the previous administration.

Khalilzad's visits to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Qatar in the past week are part of US efforts to shake up the stalled Doha talks, which come amid proposals for an interim government in Kabul.

With violence flaring in Afghanistan, Washington is under pressure to take stock of internal actors and regional players ahead of any decision.

Read also: US says 'all options open' on Afghanistan troop withdrawal

In a recent letter to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said his country was considering the full withdrawal of its 2500 troops by the May deadline but that no decision had been taken, citing concerns that the "security situation will worsen and that the Taliban could make rapid territorial gains".

In the same letter, Blinken called for a new UN-led peace effort involving the foreign ministers and envoys from Russia, China, Pakistan, Iran, in addition to calls for Turkey to host a senior meeting between both sides in the coming weeks to 'finalise' a peace agreement.

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