named by masked men has been charged with undermining national security many across the cove is in jail in minsk after ripping up a passports to avoid being sent to ukraine by force before her arrest he played a key role in organizing demonstrations against longtime leader alexander lukashenko he's accused of rigging last month's presidential election south africa's coronavirus restrictions are being rolled back after a decline in the number of infections president said obama forces says the country will move to alert level one as of midnight on sunday curfew hours will be reduced to between midnight and 4 am well up to $100.00 people will be allowed to attend funerals international travel will also be allowed from october and those are the headlines the news continues here on al-jazeera after top to all just good buy. hi i'm steve clements i have a question to ask these days it's hard to filter out the newly single track of what's really important the bottom line tackles the big issues this is shaping the

united states its people its economy and the way it deals with the rest of the world and the bottom line only you see around the world will. see. the people of afghanistan have seen war for much of the past 40 years from the soviet invasion of the late 1970 s. to the rise of the taliban in the 1990 s. . and its eventual fall from power in late 2001 they have been 6 democratic elections since then but finding consensus among afghans stands competing and diverse political groups has been challenging. while the taliban continued its attacks against civilians and government targets afghan forces and their allies have spent years fighting the group but after years of conflict where civilians were often the victims to become clear the way forward is through negotiations

earlier this year the united states signed an agreement with the taliban facilitating a draw all of its troops in return the taliban agreed not to support any of the armed groups or attack us forces for their allies the agreement came off a nearly 7 years of efforts to facilitate political reconciliation between the taliban the afghan government the u.s. and other countries. years earlier but there had agreed to open a political office in doha for the fall of one negotiations could be held. i was on a big job. after a long. several delays the afghan government is finally talking to the taliban but as they go continue here in the country capital fighting has not stopped in afghanistan on september the 12th representatives of the afghan government and the afghan taliban met here with the goal of ending a devastating conflict which has displaced millions of afghans. one of the main

players in the peace process has been gone born american diplomat. who has led the efforts to achieve peace in the on behalf of the united states since september 28th . having made it this far what's next in the afghan peace process and what role will washington play. the u.s. special representative for afghanistan reconciliation. talks to al jazeera. ambassador zalmay u.s. special representative for a silly nation thank you very much for talking to us there it's good to be with you trillions of dollars spent nearly 1000 years later the united states thinks that it is now time for the afghans to sort out of going to stand themselves you call it a historic opportunity. well for 19 years there has been an effort to end the war in afghanistan. by adding an agreement that's broadly supported in

afghanistan a political roadmap and also an agreement that afghanistan never again would be a threat to the international community in of course. we worry about the united states in particular after all it was the $911.00 attack that did the u.s. and coalition forces have come to afghanistan and we had the 1st. time in these days 20 years something you could go back even longer since afghans have been in a war situations for 40 plus years that they are meeting their meeting at tora dative leave both sides brother you know present at the delegation from kabul an empowered delegation from the taleban positive tone. meeting afterwards after the opening. stablished group one from each

side to discuss their agenda and next steps in the negotiations so i think for afghanistan it definitely is a story moment moment of opportunity a moment of hope. this is happening at a time where they were exchanging pleasantries here in the capital but on the ground in the 24 hours right after both sides met you heard the afghan government say that there have been 18 provinces where there have been small or medium relax i've done taliban saying that this is propaganda from the government side does that sound like 2 parties willing to negotiate with each other of course they are negotiating is not only sound like it is they go she and that's going on but the negotiations are taking place to build trust that is mutual mistrust that negotiations are taking place to reduce the violence that's our expectation the

negotiations are taking place to deal with overcome the differences that as a result it is the cause for the fight to of find a formula for the for resolving those differences. in terms of at least a formula and wish it doesn't mean that all of the agree to change your ideology or the government other groups change your ideology but how given that there will be differences then values differences in ideology they can live together agree on a political forum. that's war cold war and implemented and it would be difficult. don't anticipate though i would be very pleasantly surprised that it will be easy and they quickly will come to an agreement but the door to interrupt and negotiation has been opened and given our role. we are

very pleased that we have arrived at this phase from an american led diplomacy for peace in afghanistan to an afghan own afghan led peace process really call it an afghan on afghan lead. process but this is being made possible by excluding the afghan government from the initial agreement signed between the united states and the taliban to pressure the taliban the afghan government does release 5000 prisoners going to saw the back and forth in that as well so when the bases of this is being forced upon the afghan government by the united states do you really think the disks have gone on an afghan lead or i did was american led until the american agreement was the taliban signed on for a return to night and. u.s. ally nato and afghan joint declaration on the same day that opened. the door. we we wish that the afghan government and the taliban could have met 5

years ago or 6 years ago 2 years ago but it took merican engagement and american diplomatic leadership and agreement with polyps and some difficult decisions by all sides appreciative of the government of afghanistan for the tough decisions it took . we all asked to make difficult decisions we the united states made difficult decision as well so but but that's that's what was required but i'm going to you've seen the press back home that on the eve of 911 the united states was pushing the afghan government to release 6 prisoners and send them to qatar you've seen the opposition from the french as well there is a lot of opposition back home in the united states and also from various circles in afghanistan as well that the united states has given too much weight to the taliban is that the case well we are not happy about the. release of some of those

prisoners yet you facilitated it yes because we wanted something that was very important is very important for afghanistan for the internet. community. we wanted afghans to negotiate an end to the war which is i don't think any country that unhappy about the release of prisoners as i said we were through with said no let the war go on. we appreciate their expression of unhappiness. empathize with them we think the goal of making afghanistan to be more peaceful for afghans to come together. in the war for afghanistan not to be a threat to the international community and for the burden of afghanistan. to reduce on the international community as you referred to at the beginning of the

program are significant goals and objectives and sacrifices to be made tough decisions difficult decisions had to be made. if nothing important is easy. to achieve and we had to do those tough things difficult things heart wrenching things to get to where we are we're beers we're satisfied that the objective we have in front of us. is worth sacrifice as the tough decisions that were let's look at just about talk about the specific tougher decisions that are that lie ahead the constitution of afghanistan the status of afghan national army what is going to be the status of taliban fighters what happens to the rights of all afghans including women and minorities what to shorten this is do you have apart from the promises that the taliban have made it here to their side of the bargain

for one thing if they don't that the year 2 the commitment that they have made to us and that our agreement with them. then we are free from our obligations that we have made with them it's based on hope it's not. based on trust it's based on it's a deal that's a package deal you do this we'll do this if they don't do this we don't do that so that is what i count on the agreement this phase as phases that conditions and we will add here to our side provided that the other side that hears its commitment now when it comes to the future issues. we have our hopes we have our desires we have our expectations but it's now up to the afghans. money people want of. even a few months ago that this was the happen given the gaps that exist the mistrust

that exists between the 2 sides but there you have a very empowered delegation i think they take their negotiations very seriously they're prepared for it and we have a very broad based representative largely afghan delegation was senior people involved. that also us come well prepared so they're taking this seriously in my view although there are spoilers. inside and out but. as i say will be difficult it worth identifying with those spoilers well there are people like this task or better than a peace agreement there over there particularly profiting from this that's because they're financially profiting from the status quo their fears of one mind happened in terms of their relative power positions in an agreement understandable but you know when you look at it from a brother national interest point of view those are sort of putting small interests

ahead of the broader national interest and that is obviously not accept a war but there are also people there are groups. war against the peace process. afghans coming together they want to keep the u.s. untangled in a war that's like dietician afghanistan. which is trying to polarize the situation some of the attacks in my judgment the most. that they've tried to pretend as if it was the. so to undermine the peace process you know i served in iraq and we when we were trying to bring the various forces in iraq together there was this attack on a scary a mosque that polarized the situation and i have worry that every day that some

force might do some thing that there that could undermine it there are regional. issues afghanistan's conflict is quite complex in terms of number of players some because of problems that relation with us would like to cause problems in afghanistan some because of rivalries with each other. and we have tried to be active not only in gateman to the afghan side but also regionally and internationally to build a consensus for peace in afghanistan for i think not only that is the need for a broad agreement there my afghan for it to work but also broader international support for i asked you about the obligations of the taliban because there is a certain timeline that you are working. i have spoken to members of the delegation who feel rushed by the united states into a disagreement and obviously this is an election year you have to withdraw your

troops according to the president in 14 months so how is it going to work if the afghans themselves are working on a u.s. timeline well they're not working on a u.s. timeline but i think they're under pressure from their people who want the war to it. suffering you pointed out the ministry of defense at the beginning every day afghans are dying. thank god it hasn't been an american dead in afghanistan since february 29th because we have an agreement with that. but we have the right to come to the defense of the afghan forces of the come under attack. urgency. afghan should the most as a said yes present policies are well known that you would like to in the war bring the troops home and we have said it repeatedly to the afghans that being in afghanistan militarily is not an indian itself for us it's condition based long as

we can be assured this framework that we agree with taliban which has 4 elements terrorism assurances that afghan negotiation complete and permanent cease fire and the will draw all of our international forces as a package range of men. would like to see progress on all fronts and. we have agreed if all of these conditions are met within 14 months we will withdraw and we are. going to arrive at around $4500.00 by the end of november plus our allied. forces and. we'll see what the circumstances are at that time we can still carry out the mission that our forces have but you do realize that this gives a certain propaganda tool for the afghan taliban who've been courting the words of the secretary of state in february called going to sign the graveyard of empires there if you look at the statements not from doha but from kabul they're very

different in tone to what you seeing from here so is there a duplicity at play here and how do you counter it no there's no duplicity but. afghanistan everything whether you have to agree to everything. or so it's not surprising you used to expect that all of that everybody embraces each other and agree on everything certainly we appreciate the concerns afghan government has we have assured them in our joint declaration that we remain committed to the agreements and commitment that we have with them and at the same time we have disagreement with the taliban. and the joint declaration took the key elements of the agreement that we have a total of one is in that joint statement with the afghan government and elements

that are in the joint. declaration is in the u.s. $1.01 agreement and afghan government seen that we have honor and continue to honor all our commitments as they said when their forces are attacked we come to the defense of those forces and we will continue to do so let's quickly talk about the future of afghanistan if all of these 4 phases are completed or finished the united states what is going to be the u.s. engagement because many people fear that right after the soviet war ended the united states and its allies left afghanistan on its own that's when things really became from bad to worse and what assurances have you given to the people of obama's son to the afghan government to also parties of the conflict that the u.s. is not going to abandon them and how are you going to make sure that reunited states remains valid as well you know i i'm old enough been involved in

diplomacy including dealing with afghanistan for some time. or was made. at the end of the so. we had. period one more than one error but one was not to try to do what we're doing now with afghan forces the mujahideen fought the soviets and the afghan other afghans to get to a political agreement to have negotiations like the one among afghans so that is that the withdrawal was. being carried out by the soviet forces there was an order there. and agreement and a political process among the forces in play so the and. that was because of lack of trust between the united states and the soviet union at

that time many people didn't think the soviets were serious about would draw but also the afghans made the. sacrifice so much to push the soviets out to force them out and the world benefited from the. soviet departure and what followed that departure which is the disintegration of the soviet union but the afghans were one great victory at huge cost. politically by going to civil war against each other i hope deaf guns are paying attention learning the lessons of that period we certainly ever learned. and that's why we've started this peace process to get the afghans to negotiate that's that's why i call it the start of opportunity to avoid another historic mistake which many afghans admit happened as

a so we're. withdrawing and afterwards you yourself have roots 2 of kind of sure. can you distill us in the end what is at stake here what if they fail where there is a lot of fears by lots of sides that they are so rigid in their positions have guns government wants an immediate cease fire the taliban immediately wants a government where they have a seat at the table. what is at stake here what he forgot a lot of that state 1st and foremost for the afghans for the afghan people. they're suffering every day they're tired of the war. afghans are killing each other right now as i said thank goodness case isn't happening so. i just don't think the afghan people will understand their leaders who will either talib or the government. if they

lose this opportunity i just think they would not be true to their people if they did that so i think they feel that pressure they feel that pressure that that yearning is there for peace but they are also under pressure from us they're also under pressure from other international players we're watching them we're going to monitor these negotiations and we'll help with that help is needed but ultimately now we're in a different phase in which the afghans are in the in the seat they can't blame the united states they can't blame others they are eyeing each other. the. current generations the losses that they are suffering their aspirations and the circumstances of generations of afghans. not to lose this opportunity but to rise and take advantage of the psystar of the opportunity and if they do the united

states wants to assure afghanistan that we would be a good partner we want a good legacy behind in afghanistan and we would like to see this war and finally there is yes there is you are united states there is the afghan taliban but there are also regional players here you alluded to the fact that they are very heavily involved in afghanistan is the united states leaving are going to stand going to leave a void which will be filled by either regional actors or other major powers in the region well we want. the region. play a positive role for god to peace i think the region we're benefit from peace and afghanistan war producer the refugees that undermine the economy of the neighbors war. blocking blockage for trade across.

the region. peace will create the opportunity for connectivity for center asia with asia and the world for trade for investment and afghanistan can be we we have so that for a long time a kind of land bridge. connecting central asia south asia and beyond and what we are prepared to invest in it is going to be a non 0 sum situation everyone could benefit that could be there and intended benefit for the region for the afghans security for the world prosperity and cooperation for the region this is also a moment of opportunity for the region to see but there are rivalries there are mistrust. as well but other regions have overcome that. more than half again to remember pows vietnam discussions about dominoes in

southeast asia and now look at prosper as an operative that the region has become europe has overcome centuries of conflict why can't this region including where we are sitting. also learn from the lessons of other regions. there is nothing in the d.n.a. is different fundamentally than others so i think there could be a lesson from afghanistan that could be positive for the region as well. special representative for reconciliation thank you very much for talking drought as well it's good to be with you thank you on the next episode of talk to al-jazeera we speak to another key player in the peace process dr abdullah abdullah who's the chairman of the high council for national reconciliation in the gut.

for decades criminals made millions trafficking drugs through thailand one when east explores why the country has now become the 1st in southeast asia to meet allies medical marijuana. and al jazeera. the health of humanity is at stake a global pandemic requires a global response. w.h.o. is the guardian of global health delivering lifesaving to lose supplies and training to help the world's most vulnerable people uniting across borders to speed up the development of test treatments and of that seed keeping you up to date with what's happening on the ground in the wooed and in the lab now more than ever the

world needs w.h.o. making healthy a world for you. that everyone. an image can change the way we see the womb if we had not seen this it would be talking about it it can spark mass action or serve the interests of the powerful he treated his money for a follow up or to any it can obscure the truth this is a legitimate news story but this play and the talking points are pretty intense if it can forge narratives all right through the listening post gives you the full picture. one day i might be covering politics as usual and the next time i hear of micro tossing from serbia a the hungry what's most important to me is talking to people understanding what they are going through so that i can convey the headlines in the most human way

possible. here at al-jazeera we believe everyone has a story worth hearing. a powerful storm smashes the u.s. gulf coast unleashing flooding hundreds of people are moved to safer ground. i'm not about this and this is all it is there are live from doha also coming up donald trump contradicts a top health officials time line for the coronavirus vaccine claiming at least 100000000 doses could be distributed by the end of the year. u.n. investigators find evidence of crimes against humanity by venezuelan security forces and say pres.