July 09, 2015
News
First round of Afghan govt-Taliban peace talks concludes in Murree
* Both sides agree to meet again after Ramazan *Next round of talks provisionally planned for Aug 15-16 in Doha
ReutersISLAMABAD: The first official peace talks between the Afghan Taliban and the government in Kabul concluded with an agreement to meet again after the month of Ramazan, officials said on Wednesday.
Pakistan hosted the meeting in a tentative step towards ending more than 13 years of war in neighbouring Afghanistan, where the Taliban have been trying to re-establish their regime, which was toppled by a US-led military invasion in 2001. The next round of talks is provisionally planned for August 15 and 16 in Doha, capital of Qatar, according to sources close to the participants. Tuesday’s meeting was hailed as a “breakthrough” by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
But it was far from clear whether the budding peace process could end an escalating conflict that kills hundreds of Afghans every month. Divisions within the Taliban over the peace process run deep. Top battlefield commander Abdul Qayum Zakir, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, objected to sending the delegation for talks with Kabul, according to a lower-level Taliban commander in Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan. Just ahead of the talks in Pakistan, the Taliban launched two suicide attacks in Kabul on Tuesday, killing one person and wounding three.
A US drone strike also killed a former Taliban commander who pledged loyalty to Islamic State and had seized territory in the eastern province of Nangarhar. United States and China attended the talks, held overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday in Murree. In recent months there have been informal preliminary contacts between Taliban representatives and Afghan figures, but this was the first official meeting. According to a senior Pakistani official familiar with the talks, delegates met from around 10 pm (1700 GMT) on Tuesday, after they had broken their fast, to 4am on Wednesday.
The atmosphere at the meeting was “positive” and “warm”, he said, and it ended with the sides sharing Sehr, consisting of tea, omelettes, yoghurt, fruit, curry and paratha. “When they sat down for the Sehr meal, it was as if they were celebrating Eid. There was a sense of celebration,” the Pakistani official said. “Before this, Pakistan has been accused of double dealing, but this time there can be no doubt about our sincerity,” he added. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has reached out to Islamabad since taking office last year, and Pakistan has pledged to pressure Taliban leaders, many of whom are believed to be hiding in the country, to come to the negotiating table.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the United States welcomed the talks, calling them “an important step toward advancing prospects for a credible peace”. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China backed the process and was in touch with all sides. Sharif cautioned that the talks would be difficult and said Afghanistan’s neighbours and the international community should ensure “nobody tries to derail this process”.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk