January 23, 2020

The Taliban senior officials are holding talks with the US negotiators in Qatar to create a safe atmosphere for the signing of a peace agreement, Suhail Shaheen Taliban’s spokesperson said to Arab News on Tuesday.

According to Shaheen, a complete ceasefire will be declared after the peace agreement is signed with the US, while the Afghan government insists on a non-conditional ceasefire, which makes the peace process a rather complicated.

Peace talks between the US and the Taliban leadership are progressing, while the Afghan government has its stance on a complete ceasefire before the peace deal.

“The US Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, Zalmay Khalilzad met with The Taliban senior officials in Doha and the talk will continue,” said Shaheen. Both sides had detailed discussions on the principle terms of the Afghan peace deal and the next steps.

Interestingly enough, the peace talks advance between the US and the Taliban in Doha, where no delegations represent the Afghan government at the negotiating table.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the reconciled leader of Hizb-e-Islami has called on the Taliban to engage in intra-Afghan talks, and find out a cohesive solution rather than letting others interfere in our political affairs.  

Meanwhile, the former US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Marc Grossman, described the Taliban’s gesture to the reduction of violence even for some days, potentially a positive move towards the Afghan peace process.

On the contrary, Mohammad Mohaqiq, the second deputy of Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and some other mainstream politicians said that the ‘reduction of violence’ plan does not contribute anything beneficial to the peace process. However; the government should not make obstructions in way of the peace process.