US Special Envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad resigns. The administration of US President Joe Biden is expected to officially announce the news. This was announced by CNN, citing two sources who have been informed about the plans of the State Department in recent days.
Khalilzad is expected to be replaced by his deputy, Tom West less than two months after the United States withdrew from Afghanistan in a chaotic evacuation process, according to one source. West has been pursuing Afghan policy for Biden’s presidential team and has worked closely with Khalilzad for months.
The State Department declined to comment.
The United States expects more refugees from Afghanistan next week
The total number of admitted is 64,000 people
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Khalilzad serves and under President Donald Trump as Special Representative for Reconciliation with Afghanistan. He led negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar, which led to a Doha agreement with the Trump administration to withdraw US troops by May 2021. During those talks, Halilizad’s colleague was Taliban co-founder Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was recently appointed Acting Deputy Prime Minister of Afghanistan.
Khalilzad was expected to leave in May, but he agreed to stay longer than originally planned. Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan, the State Department has not clarified what Khalilzad’s plans are. Last month, spokesman Ned Price acknowledged that Khalilzad had returned to the United States from Doha, noting that there was now a US diplomatic mission to Afghanistan in Qatar, led by another senior diplomat.