Dozens of powerful Afghans including bitter rivals met the Taliban in Doha on Sunday, discussing a possible ceasefire and the future of women and minorities after 18 years of conflict.

Stakes are high for the talks which follow a week of US-Taliban negotiations with both sides eyeing a peace deal.

Washington has said it wants to seal a political deal with the Taliban ahead of Afghan presidential polls due in September to allow foreign forces to begin to withdraw.

Security was tight at the luxury hotel hosting the intra-Afghan summit as around 70 delegates, who were required to surrender their phones, filed into the hall. They sat in a vast semi-circle facing a large video screen and the hosts from Qatar and Germany.

"Gathered around the table today are some of the brightest minds representing a cross-section of Afghan society," said Markus Potzel, Germany's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"Each of you will have a unique opportunity and a unique responsibility to find ways of turning violent confrontation into a peaceful debate," he said as he opened the gathering.

Taliban negotiator Abbas Stanikzai had a brief altercation with a security guard as he attempted to enter the secure conference area.

"We want to go to the dialogue but they are not letting us," Stanikzai said to an officer, who replied: "we are not joking with you, stop shouting at us".

But he and the rest of the Taliban delegation, which included Suhail Shaheen, the group's Doha office spokesman, took their seats in the expansive ballroom shortly before the talks began at 0630 GMT.

The discussions concluded just after 1500 GMT, two delegates said, and were due to resume on Monday morning.

- 'Allow women to work' -

Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani tweeted that he looked "forward to a constructive dialogue".

The so-called intra-Afghan meeting follows six days of direct US-Taliban talks that have been put on hold for the two day Afghan conference and are set to resume Tuesday, according to both sides.

Delegate Asila Wardak, a member of the High Peace Council established by former president Hamid Karzai to engage with Taliban elements, told AFP "everybody is emphasising on a ceasefire".

Wardak added that Stanikzai spoke about the Taliban's position on "women's role, economic development, (and) the role of minorities".

He mentioned they "will allow women to work, to go to school and study -- based on Afghan culture and Islamic values", she said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo tweeted that the Afghan gathering "has been a long time coming" and praised the country's "government, civil society, women, and Taliban" for coming together.

- Taliban car bomb -

US lead negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad said Saturday that the latest round of US-Taliban talks "have been the most productive of the rounds we've had with the Talibs".

The Taliban said they were "happy with progress".

The United States is not participating directly in the two-day Afghan summit, which is being attended by political heavyweights, government officials and at least six women.

The Taliban, who have steadfastly refused to negotiate with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, have stressed that those attending are only doing so in a "personal capacity".

Ghani's administration, which the Taliban consider a puppet regime, has also been excluded from the direct US-Taliban talks.

Sunday's gathering is the third such meeting following landmark summits in Moscow in February and May.

An agreement with the Taliban is expected to have two main pillars -- a US withdrawal from Afghanistan and a commitment by the militants not to offer sanctuary to jihadists. The Taliban's relationship with Al-Qaeda was the main reason for the US invasion nearly 18 years ago.

But the thorny issues of power-sharing with the Taliban, the role of regional powers including Pakistan and India, and the fate of Ghani's administration remain unresolved.

The Taliban, believing they have the upper hand in the war, have kept up attacks even while talking to the United States and agreeing to the Afghan dialogue.

A Taliban car bomb in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 12 people and wounded scores more on Sunday, officials said.

US says latest Taliban talks 'most productive' so far
Doha (AFP) July 6, 2019 - The seventh round of peace talks between the United States and Afghanistan's Taliban that are ongoing in Qatar are the "most productive" so far, US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said Saturday.

The insurgents have been meeting with the US envoy in Doha to hammer out a deal that would see the US military quit Afghanistan in return for various guarantees.

"These six days have been the most productive of the rounds we've had with the Talibs," Khalilzad said in Qatar.

"Essentially the four items we have been talking about ever since we started (are) terrorism, withdrawal of foreign troops, inter-Afghan negotiations and dialogue, and ceasefire.

"For the first time I can say we have had substantive discussions, negotiations, and progress on all four issues."

The envoy added that direct US-Taliban talks seeking to end nearly 18 years of war would pause for a separate two-day meeting of Afghan representatives and resume on Tuesday.

Suhail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban's office in Qatar, said they were pleased with the US discussions so far.

"We are happy with progress and hope the rest of the work is also done. We have not faced any obstacles yet," he tweeted.

- Intra-Afghan talks -

About 60 Afghan delegates are expected to attend the so-called intra-Afghan dialogue on Sunday and Monday, including political figures, women and various Afghan stakeholders.

The Taliban, who have steadfastly refused to negotiate with the government of President Ashraf Ghani, have stressed that those attending the intra-Afghan talks will only do so in a "personal capacity".

The United States will not be represented at the intra-Afghan talks, which envoy Khalilzad said would not be on the "Taliban's terms".

The US envoy likewise emphasised that those attending the intra-Afghan dialogue would be there only in their personal capacity.

"Senior (Afghan) government people are here -- the president's senior advisers... everyone, as far as the Afghan dialogue is concerned, is here in their personal capacity.

"President Ghani is quite comfortable with it," said Khalilzad.

Observers have criticised the US for allowing its own talks with the Taliban to proceed without the formal participation of the Afghan government, which the Taliban label Washington's puppet.

Khalilzad said he hoped direct negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban could begin "relatively soon" following the intra-Afghan summit.

"It's up to the Afghans to decide when negotiations start," he said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has previously said Washington wants a deal with the Taliban by September 1 -- ahead of Afghan elections at the end of the month.

Khalilzad said the presidential poll could still go ahead as planned on September 28 even if no deal has been reached, but reiterated hopes a deal could be clinched in time.

President Donald Trump is impatient to pull the remaining 14,000 US troops out of Afghanistan, believing nothing more can be achieved from the military operation launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Trump has overturned US policy on Afghanistan's neighbour Iran, last year pulling out of a nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers.

But Washington's envoy to the Taliban talks said the insurgents were not deterred by the US scrapping its commitment to the landmark accord.

"The Iran deal is not the first deal we've got out of," said Khalilzad.

"But no they haven't said therefore they don't want to reach an agreement with us."

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'Rushing for the exits': Rival Afghans meet in Doha
Doha (AFP) July 5, 2019
Rival Afghans will meet Sunday in Doha for a fresh round of talks mediated by Qatar and Germany, as the US eyes peace with the Taliban within three months. The first such encounter in Moscow was heralded as a breakthrough but many sensitive issues including women's rights, foreign military withdrawal, Al-Qaeda and power sharing with the Taliban remain unresolved. Two experts spoke to AFP about their expectations for the talks which follow a week of direct negotiations between the US and the Tal ... read more