KABUL, Afghanistan, April 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) – The Afghan government has been working hard to constitute a negotiating team for holding talks with the Taliban, expected to be held in Qatar’s capital, Doha, next week.
The Taliban, which has repeatedly refused the offer to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, once again expressed opposition to the participation of government delegation in the Qatar talks.
A delegation of Afghan politicians, independent figures, representatives of political parties and chieftains are expected to hold talks with Taliban officials in Doha, next week.
However, the government of Afghanistan, which has termed any talks for peace in the absence of government delegation as “useless” according to media reports, is set to finalise the names of the negotiating team for the Qatar talks, to find negotiated settlement to the country’s protracted crisis.
The U.S. special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has met with Taliban representatives six times since Nov last year, in meeting with Afghan leaders, including President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, last week, here in Kabul, stressed for inclusion of government delegation for talks with the Taliban.
The Qatar talks are expected to open on April 14 and the participants would discuss ways and means on how to find amicable solution to the Afghan imbroglio and ensure lasting peace to the war-battered Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Majahid, in a statement, once against expressed opposition to the participation of government delegation, saying, anyone from the Kabul administration can attend the talks within his personal capacity and can present his personal opinion, but not the government stance.
Similarly, a former Taliban member, Sayed Akbar Agha, lashed at the Taliban inflexibility, saying, the militant group should give up the insistence on re-establishment of Islamic Emirate (name of ousted Taliban regime, collapsed in the late 2001) and initiate direct talks with Afghan government to end the fighting in Afghanistan.– NNN-AGENCIES
