Kabul (AT News): Former presidential runner Abdullah Abdullah who lost the polls last year, has expressed regret that the US secretary of state Mike Pompeo’s visit to Kabul did not work as he expected.

Pompeo was in Kabul on Monday to help President Ghani and his rival in election Abdullah resolve their problems and share government power. But he left Afghanistan without any achievements.

Abdullah said Tuesday that “unfortunately” Pompeo’s visit was not used good for solving political tensions in Afghanistan.

“Mr. Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state traveled to Afghanistan amid global threats of Corona virus. We welcome and appreciate this. This visit was an opportunity to solve the current crisis but unfortunately it wasn’t used good,” Abdullah said in a statement.

“We thank the US cooperation with the people of Afghanistan and their efforts for helping the intra-Afghan negotiations, I would like to emphasize that the continued cooperation is very important for bringing peace in our country.”
Abdullah emphasized that negotiation was the only solution.
Pompeo’s visit reminds Afghans of the former US secretary of state John Kerry who prevented a crisis by brokering an election deal after Abdullah rejected election commission’s announcement that declared Ghani the winner in 2014 presidential poll.

Pompeo called political differences in Afghanistan a “big challenge”, saying his country would slash one billion dollars in aid to Afghanistan.