“We accepted the invitation to attend the conference in Paris neither to hold talks with the Afghan government nor with its peace council,” Afghan Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told The Express Tribune on Sunday.
“We will attend the conference only to share our proposals for resolving the longstanding conflict in our country,” he added. “There has been no change in our policy vis-à-vis peace talks with a powerless Afghan government.”
Representatives from the Afghan Taliban and Hizb-e-Islami (HI), an Afghan resistance group led by former premier Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, are scheduled to meet their arch-rivals face-to-face at the Paris conference to be held from December 20 to 22.
Afghan government officials, opposition politicians – including those from the Northern Alliance – and High Peace Council members will also attend the three-day conference which is likely to discuss a host of issues, including upcoming Afghan elections and post-2014 security.
According to Afghan sources, attendees will include say President Hamid Karzai’s adviser Haji Din Muhammad, senior peace negotiator Masoom Stanekzai and Afghan opposition members Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Younas Qanooni.
Senior Taliban negotiator Maulvi Shahabuddin Dilawar is likely to lead the Taliban delegation at the conference. However, a final decision has not been taken yet since Maulvi Dilawar is on the UN sanctions list, which bars him from travelling abroad. Maulvi Dilawar was also among Taliban negotiators in Doha, Qatar, where a series of talks with American officials had been held earlier this year. The Doha initiative, however, collapsed after the Taliban pulled out of talks accusing the US of reneging on several promises.
Hizb-e-Islami’s chief negotiator Dr Ghairat Baheer has also confirmed that he will lead his group’s three-member delegation at the Paris conference.
“We will explain HI’s stand about the promotion of peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and share our peace formula with the participants,” he told The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 10th, 2012.
COMMENTS (8)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
1713889672-1/Plastic-waste-(2)1713889672-1-270x192.webp)
The Taliban spokesman make sense. The Taliban were the legitimate Government of Afghanistan, but 12 years ago the US invaded the them and replaced the Taliban with a puppet Government led by an American oil executive. Since then the Taliban have successfully kept at bay the US/NATO/PAKISTAN forces, albeit without defeating them. Unless the Taliban are treated with a great deal more respect than they are currently receiving why should they cooperate and hold conferences? It is true the Taliban are killing people, but this is war, and they have not killed as many people as US/NATO forces or the Northern Alliance. I do not know the answer to all the problems created by America, and as so many people untruthfully say, Pakistan, but I can only have the ridiculous hope that America will go home.
@HUM: You are a typical of the Paki liberal class that blindly toes the US line even when the US itself doesn't follow it.
@afghanistah: TTP doesn't exist on its own, it is sponsored by the Afghan state so if the US-propped Afghan political entity collapses TTP will also fizzle out or at least its threat potential for Pakistan will go away.
@cruiser: Express Tribune is the local partner of the International Herald Tribune, which in turn is wholly owned by the New York Times, that is why the bias you pointed out is to be expected.
ET zindabad. the headline "no flexibility", shows you biased and deliberate warped up mentality. there is no flexibility from the aggressors in afghanistan and not the taliban. don't befool people
Taliban are reiterating the same mistake which Mujahideen committed during Soviet invasion. At that time Mujahideens refused to talk to Afghan government(Dr Najeebullah's era) and were insisting to talk to Soviet Union instead of Dr Najeeb then we saw the result that Pakistani prime minister Junejo sign the exit plan with soviet and civil war started. I think Taliban should realize the sensitivity of the issue and start negotiation with both American and Afghan government. Otherwise, fight will intensify and the whole region will burn in the fire and this time Pakistan also would not be safe because TTP is also there compare to 1990 when there was no security risk for Pakistan.
This is just media stunt and for public consumption. Taliban are already negotiating with the Afghan Gov.
If Taliban talk to the Americans, then they should also sit with Afghans. Americans will go but Afghans will stay
Yep we will definitely negotiate with Taliban. hahahahaha what a joke
Talibans seem to have more sense in dealing with a puppet afghan government than pakistani poilcy makers.