The US and the Afghan Taliban have made "significant progress" in talks aimed at ending the 17-year-old conflict in Afghanistan, the US envoy has said. In a series of tweets, Zalmay Khalilzad did not give details but said the unprecedented six days of talks in Qatar were "more productive than they have been in the past". He said he was on his way to Kabul to consult Afghan government officials. Earlier, Taliban sources said the two sides had finalised a draft agreement. The deal calls for a withdrawal of foreign forces in return for assurances that al-Qaeda and the Islamic State (IS) group will not be allowed to use Afghanistan as a base, the sources said. Mr Khalilzad said talks with the Taliban would continue and that nothing had been finalised. Skip Twitter post by @US4AfghanPeace Report End of Twitter post by @US4AfghanPeace The Taliban has so far refused to hold direct talks with Afghan officials, whom they dismiss as "puppets". They ...
Senator Eyinnaya Abaribe Arrested by DDS The Department of State Servicves (DSS) on Friday arrested Eyinnaya Abaribe, the senator representing Abia South at the National Assembly. SaharaReporters can confirm that Abaribe was arrested at a popular hotel in the Maitama District of Abuja. The senator is believed to have come under the watch of the DSS since standing as surety for Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who hasn't been seen or heard in public since the ARmy invaded his home last year. Also, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, had complained only on Thursday that about the "illegal addition" of N30 billion into the budget of power. "The amount never passed through the senate power committee. Where did such huge sum of N30 billion come from? Let the budget office and other relevant bodies conduct self-examination. Such self-examination will go a long way to clear Full a...