Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
AT News Report
KABUL: Taliban say that nobody would represent Afghan government in the intra-Afghan negotiations slated to be held next week in the Qatari capital of Doha city.
The Doha meeting is a follow up of the February’s session held between Taliban representatives and some politicians from Kabul including former president Hamid Karzai, in which they discussed ways for peace in Moscow.
The group said in a statement that if some people from government would attend the meeting, they would express their personal viewpoints, not government’s.
Taliban have frequently rejected requests over meeting with Kabul representatives regarding peace process.
The government called the Moscow meeting “unauthorized” to make decisions, though members of the High Peace Council, a government-funded entity had attended the meeting.
The government and US representative Zalmay Khalilzad say that a team from Kabul would travel to Doha to attend the meeting. The government held on Sunday the first meeting of the Council of High Leadership for Reconciliation in Kabul. The council is responsible for choosing the members of peace talks team.
Beside the intra-Afghan negotiations, Taliban and US delegation are also to sit in Qatar for the sixth time to discuss ways to end the war in Afghanistan.
US envoy for Afghan peace, Khalilzad left Kabul on Monday after meeting with President Ghani that he called “productive”. Khalilzad said that it was time that Afghan men and women attend the peace talks. Khalilzad, besides talking to Ghani, held meetings with tribal elders, civil society and some other social organizations in Kabul and Kandahar.
