A number of Afghan political leaders have moved to broker peace talks between government and the Taliban following secret talks between the two parties in Qatar recently.
Sayed Ishaq Gailani, a former MP and leader of the National Solidarity Movement of Afghanistan (NSMA), said that politicians were in contact with the Taliban and there would be further interactions of this sort in future.
“We are seeing how to mediate between government and Taliban. The Taliban also has their demands and we will review it,” Gailani said.
He said the group of political leaders was trying to increase their contact with the Taliban.
Officials confirmed that last month a meeting took place between the National Directorate of Security (NDS) Chief, Masoom Stanekzai, and Mullah Abdul Manan, the late founding leader of the Taliban Mullah Omar’s brother, in Qatar.
But the Taliban reject reports of secret talks with Afghanistan.
Gailani said they were trying to muster support of other leaders to strengthen their efforts and encourage both sides to hold peace talks and added that a number of political and former jihadi leaders were part of the move.
Meanwhile, the Express Tribune in Pakistan stated that the political leaders also approached China and Saudi Arabia for a possible venue for talks if able to persuade government and Taliban to meet at the peace talks table.
Reports indicate that China is in contact with the Qatar-based Taliban representatives.
Saudi Arabia has so far been ineffective on the Afghan front. Political analysts in Afghanistan believe the success of the peace process mainly depends on the Afghan government and the United States.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/28211-afghan-political-leaders-push-taliban-for-talks
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