-"We would hope that he would seize the opportunity,-" US State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner said.
Washington
: The new Taliban leader has an opportunity to choose peace and to work towards a negotiated solution to join the Afghan-led peace talks, the US has said.
-"We would hope that he would seize the opportunity,-" State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters at his daily news conference on Wednesday.
Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, a religious leader was appointed as the new leader of the Taliban after the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike in Pakistan on Saturday.
The Taliban has rejected peace overtures from the Afghan government. -"He (Akhundzada) does have an opportunity in front of him to choose peace and to work towards a negotiated solution. We hope that he makes that choice now,-" Toner said in response to a question.
Akhundzada is not in any terrorist designated list, he said, but did not respond to questions if he is on the target of US forces in Afghanistan. -"I'm not going to predict who we might target in the national security interest of the US,-" he said.
