kabul: The Afghan government on Monday said that it could not accept the Taliban’s preconditions for the resumption of stalled peace talks, urging that the negotiations will move forward only in line with the decision of the quadrilateral agreement, referring to a recent meeting of senior officials from Afghanistan-Pakistan-China and the US in Kabul where the four nations agreed to outline a comprehensive roadmap for talks with the insurgent group.
Meanwhile, the Afghan High Peace Council (HPC) has said that this is not the first time that the Taliban has set preconditions, calling on the group to avoid such a move and raise their issues at the peace table.
The HPC warned that no breakthrough would be achieved, unless there is face to face talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
“All sides can discuss their issues at the negotiation table, setting preconditions for peace talks can undermine the process,” HPC member Jajji Din Mohammad said.
The Taliban announced their preconditions for attending the peace process with the Afghan government on Saturday in Doha during a two day meeting at Pugwash research center.
Recognition of Taliban’s political office in Qatar, removing the name of the Taliban group from the UN blacklist, a halt to the arrest and elimination of the group’s fighters, the release of Taliban inmates from jails and a swift stoppage to anti-Taliban propaganda is what the group has requested.
“We categorically announced to the world that we want peace and we want to resolve Afghanistan’s issues through negotiations and this is our political message. They blame us that we do not endorse peace and are insisting on war. We want peace on condition that the opposing side also shows willingness for peace. If they (government) continue efforts for elimination and killing us, in that case, we will adopt the same approach,” Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman at the Taliban office’s in Qatar said.
Mohammad Omar Dawoudzai, a member of the new Council for the Solidarity and Protection of Afghanistan, Anwarul Haq Ahadi and the chairman of The New National Front of Afghanistan (NNF) participated from Afghanistan in the two day meeting. However, no delegation represented Afghan government at the meeting.
“My assessment is that it is a good beginning and there is a positive environment among the participants. A wide range of issues were discussed. There is unanimous views over a number of key points which can be proved helpful for peace strategy in the future. If we are able to get advantage of the common points, the way will be paved for direct peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban,” Dawoudzai said.
Following the preconditions of the Taliban for the resumption of peace talks with Kabul, the Afghan government rejected the Taliban move, reiterating that the peace talks with the insurgent group will be in line with the decision of the quadrilateral meeting.
“We negotiate with the groups that abandon violence and acts of terrorism and accepts all norm and principles for peace which are explained at an international level,” Sayed Zafar Hashemi, a deputy presidential spokesman said on Monday.
Referring to the Taliban’s preconditions for peace, Hajji Din Mohammad, a member of the Afghan peace council said that such moves could impact the resumption of a meaningful dialogue, calling any meeting without the participation of Afghan government impractical.
“Those who are supposed to talk with the government of Afghanistan in the future are chosen by Pakistan. They [Pakistan] are the ones who set the conditions, the preconditions which recently tabled by Taliban aren’t among their [Pakistan] conditions,” military analyst Jawed Kohistani said.
Abbas Stanekzai, in-charge of Taliban political office in Qatar, represented the 11 member Taliban delegation at the two day conference.
This comes a few days after members of the quadrilateral meeting in Kabul announced to they would convene their third meeting in Islamabad on 6 February to finalize the venue and timeline of the talks with the Taliban.
The Afghan government has set end of April as a deadline for peace talks.http://www.tolonews.com/en/afghanistan/23461-kabul-rejects-talibans-preconditions-for-peace-talks
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