Negotiate withdrawal after soldiers go AWOL (5)
I believe the answer is:
treat
'negotiate' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'withdrawal after soldiers go awol' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'soldiers' could be 're' (Royal Engineers) and 're' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'tat' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for treat that I've seen before include "Special delight; handle" , "Minister - buy one a drink" , "Entertain and pick up the tab" , "Tend" , "An indulgence; handle" .)