Taliban toughen stance on peace talks ahead of quadrilateral meeting

Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Khalil Hekmat Karzai is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad later today, sources say

ISLAMABAD: Reiterating their longstanding stance not to sit with what they term the "powerless Kabul administration,” the Afghan Taliban have said those who take part in any meeting will not be their true representatives.

In Kabul, a spokesperson for Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah claimed Pakistan will “present a list of the Taliban willing to negotiate” with Kabul in the upcoming quadrilateral meeting.



Earlier reports suggested that the Taliban deputy chief, Sirajudin Haqqani, could be one of the Taliban leaders to join the talks. However, the Taliban leaders dismissed the reports as baseless. “There is no truth in these reports. Siraj has no time to take part in any meeting. The Islamic Emirate does not have any plan,” a Taliban leader said.

“There may be possibility some fake people are being introduced as Taliban. The reality is the Islamic Emirate neither takes part in the talks nor attends meetings as such meetings have no worth,” he added.

Two Taliban officials spoke with The Express Tribune as senior Pakistani, Chinese and US officials are scheduled to join Afghanistan in key talks in Islamabad on Monday, to explore options to bring the stalled peace process back on track.



The Taliban had earlier confirmed the expulsion of two senior leaders – Abdul Razaq and Hasan Rehmani – as some sources say they could agree to sit with Kabul. Both had taken part in a meeting with Afghan officials in the Chinese city of Urumqi last year in February.

Meanwhile, diplomatic sources told The Express Tribune that Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister, Khalil Hekmat Karzai, is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad later today [Sunday] to lead Kabul in the quadrilateral meeting.

Hekmat was one of the senior members of the Afghan team that had taken part in the first ever face-to-face meeting with the Taliban in Murree in early July, last year. The Mureee Process was scuttled after the Afghan intelligence agency revealed the death of the former Taliban chief, Mullah Omar.

Afghan leaders have attached high hopes to the four-nation process as they consider it a "window of opportunity" to reduce violence in Afghanistan. They also want the process to stop the Taliban from launching their annual "spring offensive" this year.



The Taliban routinely begin the major operations in late March or early April and they intend to go ahead with their annual offensive, a senior Taliban leader told The Express Tribune.

Islamabad will be the centre of official and unofficial activities relating to Afghanistan as besides the four-nation meeting, two unofficial meetings will also take place in the capital city.

Further, the third round of the China-Afghanistan-Pakistan Trilateral Dialogue being held on Monday would focus on the continuing the Afghan peace process with special emphasis on the role of China and Pakistan.



The objective is to “highlight the role of China and Pakistan, as well as that of the regional countries” in the pursuit of finding a peaceful resolution to the Afghan conflict, Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, Chairman of the Pak-China Institute said.

In addition to this, Afghan and Pakistani members of parliament and defence analysts will hold a two-day track-II security dialogue in Islamabad next week with the support of the British government.