Thaindian News

Washington, May 4 (ANI): The Obama administration is trying to use Osama bin-Laden’s death to accelerate a negotiated settlement with the Taliban and bring an end to the Afghan war, an U.S. officials involved in war policy, has said.

“Bin Laden’s death is the beginning of the endgame in Afghanistan. It changes everything,” the Washington Post quoted the official, as saying.

Some of the Obama administration officials are of the opinion that bin-Laden’s demise will now make it easy for Taliban’s reclusive leader, Mohammad Omar, to break his group’s alliance with al-Qaeda, a key U.S. requirement for any peace deal.

“The killing presents an opportunity for reconciliation that didn’t exist before,” he said.

It is however, believed that there still exists a long way before bringing the various Taliban factions to the negotiating table.

Mullah Omar’s shadowy organization, based in the Pakistani city of Quetta, does not have a political wing or officials who have been publicly identified as interlocutors. The Obama administration is also dependent on Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government to lead the process, and Pakistan’s cooperation to deal with the issue.

“We know where we want to go, but getting there won’t be easy. There’s a long and complicated path ahead,” another senior official said.

It was reported yesterday that senior Afghan government officials have already started fearing that the United States would forget about their region, and start withdrawing troops in the scheduled time, given the fact that bin-Laden has now being tracked down. (ANI)