US Appoints Zalmay Khalilzad as Special Envoy to Afghanistan

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has named Zalmay Khalilzad, an Afghan-born former U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Afghanistan and the United Nations, as a special envoy to Afghanistan. Khalilzad brings decades of experience working in the U.S. government and was named Special Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan by former President George W. Bush, shortly after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. He later served as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan until 2005 and then became the U.S. Ambassador to Iraq until 2007. Khalilzad spoke with VOA's Urdu service in 2016 about what he saw as missed opportunities from his time as ambassador to Afghanistan. He said one of the biggest problems facing Afghanistan was its poor relationship with Pakistan, which he blamed for creating Taliban sanctuaries across the Afghan border. He said that when he first spoke about the problem, very few U.S. officials believed what he was saying. "I was the first administration official at that level to say a 'sanctuary' was being developed — to use that word. Now, if you say that no one would challenge that."   Khalilzad's appointment comes amid new U.S. efforts to forge a peace deal with the Taliban. Read More US Appoints Zalmay Khalilzad as Special Envoy to Afghanistan : https://ift.tt/2LlNEhl