Afghan government agreed to postpone Ghani's nomination - USA

The Afghan government has agreed to postpone swearing in for a second term for President Ashraf Ghani, the US Department of State announced on Tuesday (February 25th).

The United States demanded this adjournment so as not to disrupt its peace efforts with the Taliban. Ashraf Ghani last week claimed victory in the September 28 presidential election with 50.64% of the vote and planned to take the oath on Thursday.

Read also: Afghanistan: final results give outgoing president Ashraf Ghani re-elected

But neither his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, nor the United States has recognized his victory and this situation threatens the peace process that Washington is piloting. Abdullah's camp Abdullah claims that he is the one who prevailed and that he is ready to form, if need be, a parallel administration.

The American peace initiative entered a crucial phase last Saturday with the start of a lull period agreed with the Taliban and expected to lead, next Saturday in Doha, to the signing of an agreement between Washington and the Islamist insurgents on a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. This agreement must be followed by inter-Afghan talks to reach a political solution to decades of conflict in the country. Spokesman for Abdullah Abdullah, Fraidoon Khwazoon told Reuters on Tuesday that the inauguration of Ghani and Abdullah would be postponed by two weeks "in order to support the peace process". No comments could be obtained, however, in the entourage of Ghani.

Read also: Afghanistan: the war has claimed more than 100,000 civilian victims in 10 years

The US military has been deployed to Afghanistan since 2001 following the intervention to oust the Taliban, who had allowed the country to serve as a sanctuary for Al Qaeda, the organization responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks in New York and Washington. The withdrawal of some 13,000 members of the U.S. forces from Afghanistan is a major foreign policy objective of Donald Trump, who, if he achieves it, could draw from it an additional campaign argument for his own re-election in November.

Read also: The United States could announce the withdrawal of 4,000 soldiers from Afghanistan