FYI
US to hold direct peace talks with Taliban
United States will engage with Taliban in Qatar where Afghan-based armed group
opened office, White House officials say.
Last Modified: 18 Jun 2013 16:02
Taliban spokesman Mohammed Naeem said the group wanted a political solution to
the conflict [Al Jazeera]
The United States will engage in direct peace
negotiations with the Taliban in Qatar next week, aimed at achieving
peace in Afghanistan, senior White House officials have said.
Tuesday's announcement came as the Taliban opened a political office in the
Qatari capital, Doha, to help start talks on ending the
12-year-old conflict, saying it wanted a political solution that would
bring about a just government and end foreign occupation.
Taliban representative Mohammed Naeem told a news conference at the
office in Doha that the armed group wanted good relations with
Afghanistan's neighbouring countries.
US President Barack Obama said the opening of the Taliban office was
an important first step toward reconciliation between the Taliban and
Afghanistan's government.
He also praised Afghan President Hamid
Karzai for taking a courageous step by sending representatives to Qatar
to discuss peace with the Taliban.
He warned, however, that the process would be lengthy and insisted that the
Taliban break ties with al-Qaeda and end violence.
Secret discussions
A senior representative of the Afghan government confirmed that talks were
scheduled with the Taliban and said the progress was made after
secret discussions with the group.
"Peace talks will certainly
take place between the Taliban and the High Peace Council," said the
senior official, referring to the body created by Karzai in 2010 to
negotiate peace with the group.
The Taliban has until now said it
would not countenance peace talks with the Karzai government, which it
calls a "stooge" of the United States and other Western nations.
The peace talks, if they go ahead, could also lead to a reduction in fighting
across Afghanistan, the official said.
"We
hope that the attacks carried out by the Taliban in Afghanistan will
reduce while we talk peace; there is no point in talking if the bombs
continue to kill civilians," he said.
The announcement came on the same day that the Taliban opened their
long-delayed office in the Qatari capital.
In
a move that may anger the Afghan government, the white Taliban flag was
at his side, and a large sign behind him proclaimed the office of the
"Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", the name the Taliban used during their
brief national rule in the 1990s.
Both events may have been timed to coincide with a ceremony on Tuesday to mark
the beginning of the final phase of security transition from the US-led
coalition to the Afghan state.
Concern in Kabul
Al Jazeera's Jane Ferguson, reporting from Kabul, said that many
poeple were saying they would resist what they percieved as the rise in
power of the Taliban
"The people here in Kabul are extremely concerned about the developments in
Doha today," our correspondent said.
"The Taliban said they would reject any internaitonal terrorist
presence here, so from one perspective the Americans will have acieved a huge
objective.
"What people here are asking is what about the other objectives that
were sold to Afghans in 2001? Women's rights, universal human rights,
democracy. Are those objectives to be sacrificed for the skae of a quick
american withdrawal?
"If the Taliban were to have widespread political influence here,
does that mean a lot of the things that they have worked for over the
past 12 years could be lost?"
Source:
Al Jazeera and agencies
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