塔利班擬在卡塔爾設辦事處 美巴反應謹慎
The New Year in war-ravaged Afghanistan has dawned with hopes the country can finally move towards a peace process bringing the bloody conflict there to an end.
新年伊始，飽受戰爭蹂躪的阿富汗帶來希望的曙光，這個國家可能結束流血衝突，向和平進程邁進。
For the first time since the U.S.-led coalition invaded the country 10 years ago, the Taliban this week disclosed they are engaged in talks with U.S. officials and have reached a preliminary deal to set up a political office in the Gulf state of Qatar. In addition, the insurgent group says it has also asked for the release of its prisoners being held at the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
自從美國領導的盟軍10年前攻打阿富汗以來，塔利班於這個星期首次透露他們在與美國官員會談，並已達成一項有關在海灣國家卡塔爾設立政治辦事處的初步協議。此外，這個反叛組織說，它還要求美國釋放被關押在古巴關塔那摩灣拘留中心的塔利班成員。
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has announced that his country agrees with the plan to open a Taliban office in Qatar, and with Washington’s efforts to talk with the insurgent group, as a way to prevent further conflict and the deaths of Afghan civilians.
阿富汗總統卡爾扎伊已宣佈本國同意在卡塔爾設立塔利班辦事處的計劃，並同意華盛頓與塔利班進行和談的努力，這是防止發生進一步衝突和阿富汗平民傷亡的一種方式。
Neighboring Pakistan has reacted cautiously, declining to say whether it is involved in the peace process. However, Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar reiterated her country's support for any Afghan-led effort aimed at political reconciliation in the war-torn country.
鄰國巴基斯坦對這一事件作出謹慎反應，該國拒絕說明它是否參與了阿富汗的和平進程。不過，巴基斯坦外交部長希娜•拉巴尼•哈爾在對美國之音講話時重申，巴基斯坦將支持阿富汗領導的爲在這個飽受戰爭蹂躪的國家達成政治和解的努力。
"The stability of the region is one of Pakistan’s core national interests because Pakistan has suffered for too long because of lack of stability in the region," she said. "So any move, any effort towards reconciliation, towards national stability in Afghanistan, has a direct positive effect on Pakistan, so Pakistan would obviously be supportive of that."
哈爾說：“這個地區的穩定是巴基斯坦的核心國家利益之一，因爲巴基斯坦已經因該地區缺乏穩定而遭受了太長時間的苦難。所以，任何走向和解、走向國家穩定的行動和努力都會給巴基斯坦帶來直接的積極影響，因此巴基斯坦顯然會支持這些行動。”
According to Kabul-based analyst Omar Sharifi, it would be premature to tie too many hopes to the Taliban’s announcement that it has agreed to open a political office, but that there are reasons behind President Karzai's public support for the move.
阿富汗喀布爾的獨立分析人士奧馬爾•沙利菲說，現在就對塔利班同意設立政治辦事處一事寄予太多希望還爲時過早。不過他說，卡爾扎伊總統公開支持這一舉動是有原因的。
"They welcomed the opening of the Taliban office in Qatar, but the logic behind this, of course, is [that] they would love to see a kind of contact address for the Taliban," he said. "More importantly, they would very much like to see the exclusive Pakistani monopoly over the Taliban [be] somehow eased or loosened."
沙利菲說：“他們歡迎塔利班在卡塔爾開設辦事處，但這背後的邏輯顯然是，他們樂見塔利班有一個聯繫地址，更重要的是，他們非常想看到巴基斯坦對塔利班的獨家控制能有所放鬆或鬆動。”
Pakistan’s military is also accused of maintaining close ties with the anti-U.S. Haqqani network of Afghan insurgents, based in the Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan. But Pakistani observers like Rustam Shah Mohmand, former ambassador to Afghanistan, insist that any Afghan peace arrangement not involving Islamabad would be difficult to implement.
巴基斯坦軍方也被指責與反美的阿富汗反叛組織哈卡尼網絡保持密切關係。哈卡尼網絡的總部位於毗鄰阿富汗的巴基斯坦瓦濟里斯坦部落地區。但是巴基斯坦觀察人士，比如前巴基斯坦駐阿富汗大使拉斯塔姆•謝赫•穆罕默德堅稱，沒有伊斯蘭堡參與的阿富汗和平協議將會很難實行。
"Because there are still many Afghan refugees in Pakistan and ... many Taliban leaders come and go, so Pakistan’s position would be very pivotal," he said. "I am sure that at some point in time the Pakistanis will have to be brought on board."
穆罕默德說：“因爲在巴基斯坦仍有許多阿富汗難民，許多塔利班領導人進進出出，所以巴基斯坦的地位將非常重要，我確信，在某個時候，巴基斯坦將不得不參與這一進程。”American officials have refused to comment directly on their reported contacts with the Taliban, but have suggested it could help move toward a negotiated settlement of the conflict. U.S. Ambassador to Islamabad Cameron Munter, however, dismissed suggestions Pakistan is being kept out of the process.
美國官員對於有關他們與塔利班接觸的報導拒絕直接評論，但是他們表明，這可能有助於達成解決衝突的談判協議。不過，美國駐巴基斯坦大使卡梅倫•芒特駁斥了巴基斯坦被排除在這一和平進程之外的說法。
“We are both committed, both Pakistan and the United States, to a peaceful, successful, prosperous Afghanistan," he said. "We are committed to working together to try to achieve those goals ... not only about our cooperation together, but our cooperation with regional partners to make sure that a settlement that is reached in Afghanistan is something that is satisfactory for everyone in the region."
芒特說：“巴基斯坦和美國都致力於建設一個和平、成功和繁榮的阿富汗。我們致力於合作達成這些目標......不僅僅是我們之間的合作，還有我們與地區夥伴的合作，以確保在阿富汗達成的協議讓這一地區的所有各方都滿意。”
Separately, representatives of the Afghan insurgent group led by fugitive warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar also traveled to Kabul this week to meet with President Karzai, General John Allen, the U.S. commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, and Ryan Crocker, Washington’s envoy to Kabul.
另外，由逃亡的古勒卜丁•希克馬蒂亞爾領導的這個阿富汗反叛組織的代表本週也到喀布爾與卡爾扎伊總統、北約駐阿富汗部隊指揮官約翰•艾倫和美國駐阿富汗大使萊恩•克羅克會面。
Hekmatyar's Pakistan-based son-in-law, Ghairat Baheer, led the three-member delegation to the Afghan capital. Speaking to VOA at his residence in Islamabad, Baheer described talks with the Americans as "very frank, detailed, direct and useful."
希克馬蒂亞爾的女婿、住在巴基斯坦的賈伊拉特•巴赫爾率領這個由三人組成的代表團到阿富汗首都喀布爾會談。他在伊斯蘭堡的住所對美國之音說，他與美國官員的會談“非常坦誠、細緻、直接和有用。”
"I think the Americans seem to be more pragmatic and realistic then they were before," he said. "We believe if the Americans are serious in their withdrawal from Afghanistan [by end of 2014], if this is a formal and final stance, then the rest of the issues could be subjected to negations."
巴赫爾說：“我認爲這些美國官員看起來比以前更務實、更實際。我們認爲，如果美國認真執行撤離駐阿富汗美軍的計劃，如果這是一個正式的、最終的計劃，那麼餘下問題可以談判解決。”
The United States plans to withdraw all its combat forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014. But most observers believe that without sustained international backing, deep divisions among various Afghan factions including the Taliban could return the country to a civil war-like situation, much like the one Afghanistan experienced after the withdrawal of Soviet forces in the 1990s.
美國計劃在2014年年底之前撤離全部駐阿戰鬥部隊。但大多數觀察人士認爲，如果沒有國際社會的持續支持，包括塔利班在內的阿富汗各派之間的深度分歧可能使這個國家再次出現像1990年代蘇聯軍隊撤離後阿富汗經歷的內戰一樣的局面。
