As the Taliban announced its decision to shut down its political office in the Gulf state of Qatar, which was opened last month for peace talks with US and Afghan governments, the White House has said that it will pursue other peace efforts if the Doha process does not yield any result.
"If this effort, the Doha office effort does not succeed, we will pursue other means and other avenues for peace, because ultimately peace in Afghanistan depends on a reconciliation between Afghans," the White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said yesterday.
Carney acknowledged that from the very beginning they knew this would be a difficult process.
"It has been a difficult process and will continue to be," he said.
"We're still trying to move it forward despite the difficulty in the process," said the State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki.
"The opening of the Taliban office just a couple of weeks ago, of course, was intended to facilitate negotiations with the Afghan High Peace Council.
We believe misunderstandings arose in context of the opening should not stand in the way of moving forward on reconciliation if Taliban wishes to do so, and we'll continue to support and reiterate our call to move forward," she said.
She added though Taliban has closed it's office in Doha, we will continue to work through the bumpy road, and are hopeful to get the peace process back on track.
"There is no schedule for the resumption of talks with the Taliban," she said.
