End to Afghan war 'never more real': UN

By Michael Hernandez</p> <p>WASHINGTON (AA) – A negotiated end to Afghanistan's 17-year-long conflict &quot;has never been more real&quot; than it is now, the top UN official in the country said Monday. </p> <p>Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary general’s special representative for Afghanistan, cited several efforts underway to end the war, including a peace plan developed by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and ongoing engagements being conducted by the U.S. peace envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. </p> <p>Yamamoto told the Security Council his agency is &quot;encouraged by these developments&quot;.</p> <p>&quot;We understand, however, that they are at a delicate stage where political space must be allowed for the main actors to formulate their positions and how to react to recent developments,&quot; he said. </p> <p>&quot;We hope that the current momentum will bring these parties together so that they can begin to explore how they would address the multitude of agenda points needed for arriving at a peaceful settlement.&quot;</p> <p>In the latest development ahead of presidential polls in April, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the Hezb-e-Islami party chief in Afghanistan, urged the Taliban on Sunday to join him for the forthcoming elections in the war-ravaged country.</p> <p>The Taliban have so far not responded to Hekmatyar’s call. However, the Taliban had reportedly asked Khalilzad to postpone the polls, according to local Azadi Radio.</p> <p>Earlier this year, Hekmatyar, a former Afghan Mujaheddin leader, floated the idea of providing “safe zones” to the Taliban in a bid to encourage them to join the peace process.</p> <p>But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed termed the idea “an act of practically dividing Afghanistan”.</p> <p>*Betul Yuruk contributed to this report from the United Nations