Washington's Afghan peace envoy remained in Pakistan on Tuesday as part of efforts to find a negotiated end to Afghanistan's 18 -year war, even though President Donald Trump hasn't expressed any interest in resuming talks with the Taliban.
The envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, met with Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday and was expected to hold talks with the country's powerful military army chief on Tuesday.
Officials in Pakistan, where the Taliban's governing council is believed to be headquartered, has been pushing for a resumption of direct U.S.-Taliban talks since they collapsed in early September after Trump declared a deal that seemed imminent dead. Trump's declaration followed a series of violent attacks in the Afghan capital that killed several people, including a U.S. soldier.
During their meeting Monday, Khan called on all sides in Afghanistan's protracted war to reduce the violence.
Civilian casualties have been rising fast in recent months, according to the United Nations which blames both insurgents and U.S. and Afghan government security forces. So far this year there have been more than 8,000 casualties.
For the first time the United Nations reported earlier this year that U.S. and Afghan security forces killed more civilians than insurgents.
Khan said in a statement that it was "important for all sides to take practical steps for the reduction of violence in Afghanistan."
The Taliban's political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Saturday that if the United States signs the agreement Trump declared dead there will be a cease-fire first with U.S. and NATO troops followed by a negotiated cease-fire with Afghan Security Forces.
"If the U.S. returns to the negotiation table and signs the agreement then there will be a cease-fire and reduction of violence," Shaheen said.
Khalilzad arrived in Pakistan from Afghanistan, where he met with leaders including President Ashraf Ghani, who has mostly dismissed any talks not led by his government.
But Afghanistan's leadership has just come out of a presidential election that has been marred by allegations of corruption and fraud and nearly a month after Afghans went to the polls, in seemingly low numbers, no results have been released. Preliminary results are now expected on Nov. 14.
Ghani and his current partner in a so-called unity government, Abdullah Abddullah, are the leading contenders for president. The two men jointly lead Afghanistan's unity government cobbled together by the U.S. after the 2014 presidential elections were so deeply flawed a clear winner could not be determined.
Before his stop in Afghanistan, Khalilzad was in Moscow meeting with Chinese and Russian representatives as well as holding yet another meeting with Pakistani officials.
Following that meeting a statement was released calling for all sides to reduce violence and get back to talking about finding a peaceful end to a devastatingly long war.
DETROIT (AP) — The Oakland Athletics no longer have to wonder where they'll play the next few seasons. That won't make the long goodbye any easier.
The A's reacted to the announcement that this will be their last year in Oakland with a mixture of sadness and relief.
“At least as a player, you know where you’re headed,” outfielder Seth Brown said Friday before a game against the Tigers in Detroit. “There’s obviously a lot of moving parts, a lot of stuff we’re not privy to, so it’s just been kind of a waiting game on our end. Where are we going to go? Where are we going to be? So I think just having that knowledge -- at least we know where we’re going to be playing next year.”
Vivek Ranadivé, who owns the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats, and Oakland Athletics owner John Fisher announced Thursday that the A’s will temporarily relocate to West Sacramento's Sutter Health Park for at least three seasons. The A's are moving to Las Vegas after a new ballpark is constructed.
The River Cats, who are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants, will continue to play at the same facility.
Fisher was unable to reach an agreement with Oakland city officials on extending the lease at Oakland Coliseum, which expires at the end of this season. The A's have played in the city since 1968.
“There's direction now, which we've talked a lot about,” Oakland A's manager Mark Kotsay said. “We've got time to kind of reflect on what this really means from an organizational standpoint, the history that we've had in Oakland, with this being now the final season. There's a lot of emotion that goes behind this.”
It will not only cause some upheaval for the players and staff but also members of the organization that work behind the scenes.
“At the end of the day, we know where we're going to be for the next three seasons after the finish this year and that in itself gives a little bit of stability,” Kotsay said. “At the same time, in the present, it's challenging in certain ways to think about the finality of this organization in Oakland.”
Sacramento will be a much smaller environment to house a major league team. Ranadivé said the River Cats venue currently seats 16,000 when counting the stands, the lawn behind center field and standing room only.
First baseman Ryan Noda is concerned with the facilities. He's hopeful that significant upgrades will be made, much like the Toronto Blue Jays did at Buffalo's Triple-A facility. The Blue Jays played at Buffalo's Sahlen Field in 2020 in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“New walls, new dugouts, new locker rooms — everything they needed to become a big league stadium,” said Noda, who played some games in Sacramento as a minor leaguer. “As long as we can do something like that, then it'll be all right. But it's definitely going to be different than playing in stadiums that hold 40,000 people.”
Kotsay is confident the upgrades will occur.
“I know it will be of major league baseball quality,” he said. “It's has to be of major league baseball quality. I know the Players Association will make sure that takes place, as they did in Buffalo.”
For the rest of this season, the A's will have to deal with small home crowds and disappointed fans.
“We’re sad for the fans, the diehard fans, who always come to our games, always support us, always support the boys wearing the jersey,” Noda said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, center, shakes hands John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics, before the start of a news conference where Fisher announced his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4 2024.The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
John Fisher, owner of the Oakland Athletics baseball team, announces that his team will leave Oakland after this season and play temporarily at a minor league park, during a news conference in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The A's announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Sutter Health Park, home of the Triple A team Sacramento River Cats, is shown in West Sacramento, Calif., Thursday, April 4, 2024. The Oakland Athletics announced the decision to play at the home of the Sacramento River Cats from 2025-27 with an option for 2028 on Thursday after being unable to reach an agreement to extend their lease in Oakland during that time. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)
Oakland Athletics manager Mark Kotsay walks to the dugout after making a pitching change during the eighth inning of the team's baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians in Oakland, Calif., Sunday, March 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
