Ghani separately met Pelosi, Esper: Prez Office

Kabul, Oct 21 (IANS) Afghan President Ashraf Ghani separately met US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Defence Secretary Mark Esper who arrived here on unannounced visits, the Presidential Office said on Monday.Pelosi and Esper both arrived in Kabul on Sunday separately, Xinhua news agency reported.”We want US support for Afghanistan and for expanding relations between the two countries in various areas, especially in the security sector,” the Presidential Office quoted Ghani as saying in a statement.The two sides also discussed the peace process with the Taliban.

With Esper, Ghani discussed a range of topics including the security situation in Afghanistan and the region, the fight against administrative corruption, war on terrorism, and peace with the Taliban, according to the statement.Esper emphasized the effectiveness of the US’ support to Afghan security forces.

According to Pelosi’s Office, the Democrat leader was accompanied by a dozen lawmakers, including Republicans, who had travelled to Jordan on Saturday to receive information about the situation in Syria following the October 9 Turkish offensive.The delegation also “briefly” met Esper, it added.During the past year, the US and the Taliban held nine rounds of negotiations in Doha, in which a draft agreement was reached, before President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled these negotiations last month following a bombing in Kabul in which an American soldier was killed.

–IANSksk