US using Saudi Arabia, UAE for reviving peace talks with Taliban

The United States is trying to revive the stalled process of negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar with the help of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE), but Islamabad is once again being kept out of loop and the Obama administration has decided not to take it on board as it did when the Mullah Omar-led insurgents were first approached with an offer for talks.
The US had been trying to engage the Taliban in peace talks for the last couple of years, but the efforts materialized only last year when the Taliban showed their inclination to open an office in Qatar to hold direct negotiations with the American officials.
Hence, the Taliban office was opened and the talks started with Tayyab Agha, Mullah Omar’s close aide and some other Taliban leaders participating in the process from the Taliban side.
The composition of US delegation taking part in the talks remained unknown but some diplomats claim that Special Envoy of Obama administration for Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman took part in the parleys. The vital talks, however, stalled soon when the Obama administration refused to oblige the Taliban on their demand for the release of five to six important insurgent leaders, who are detained at Guantanamo Bay.
The US officials, nonetheless, reportedly blamed the Taliban for failing to renounce al-Qaeda and global terrorism as a part of their share in bargain and also to set free an American soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who has been in Taliban custody since 2009. “The talks between Taliban and the US officials in Qatar have been suspended since January this year and there have been no direct negotiations between the two sides. However, the US is trying hard to revive the dialogue process with the Taliban and for the purpose it is using the ‘good offices’ of Saudi Arabia and UAE,” said a diplomatic source, seeking anonymity.
He said strangely, the Obama administration had once again ignored Pakistan for the revival of peace talks with the Taliban, the way it did when it first approached the Taliban for parleys.
He said the US knew well how important Islamabad was for the success of any peace talks with the Taliban, but perhaps owing to Islamabad-Washington row over the NATO supplies reopening, Pakistan was being kept out of the loop.
US is strongly urging Pakistan for the resumption of NATO supplies but Islamabad is asking for a public apology by Washington over the airstrikes on its border posts and also telling Washington that it would tax the trucks and containers that would be crossing Pakistani border once the routes are reopened. A Pakistani official, requesting not to be named, said any US efforts for the revival of peace talks with the Taliban were not in his knowledge. However, he said Pakistan was willing to play its role for the restoration of peace and stability in Afghanistan.