Senior member hints at second trip to Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
ISLAMABAD: Afghan negotiators have disputed remarks by Adviser to Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz that Taliban are unwilling to talk to the government-backed peace council.
Sartaj Aziz had said that despite Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate talks between the Afghan High Peace Council and the Afghan Taliban, the latter are unwilling to enter into negotiation.
However, the Afghan High Peace Council Wednesday claimed, “many Taliban leaders are in contact with the Council.”
“His (Sartaj Aziz) remarks are contrary to the ground realities,” spokesman for the peace council, Maulvi Shehzada Shahid, told the media in Kabul on Wednesday. The spokesman claimed that most of the Taliban leaders are interested in peace and reconciliation.
The Afghan Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, also denied claims by the Afghan High Peace Council’s leader and insisted that there is no change in the Taliban policy of not talking to the regime in Kabul.
Aziz had also stated that Pakistan has no control over the Afghan Taliban and that Islamabad has been urging them for a long time to talk to the High Peace Council but they do not accept the requests.
The peace council’s spokesman, however, said Pakistan’s deep influence on the Afghan Taliban and can make the peace process successful as “Taliban leaders live in Pakistan and are in contact with the Pakistani officials.”
Maulvi Shahid’s comments came weeks after head of the Peace Council, Salahuddin Rabbani, had met with the senior Afghan Taliban leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Pakistan for the first time since his arrest in Karachi in 2010.
Aziz had confirmed the meeting but stated that the Taliban leadership had not authorised him to talk to the peace council, adding that the Afghan Taliban have a principled stance as that they do not recognise the government in Kabul.
He had suggested to the Afghan officials to increase informal contacts with the Taliban leaders in Afghanistan and in Qatar.
Another visit to Pakistan
A senior peace council member, Qazi Amin Waqad, hinted that the peace council is likely to pay another visit to Pakistan following Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to Afghan reconciliation process.
“We welcome Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s support to the Afghan peace process in his recent meeting with senior military leaders and key ministers,” Waqad told The Express Tribune from Kabul by the phone on Wednesday.
He said remarks by PM Nawaz have raised hopes for the peace process as stability in Afghanistan will have positive impact on Pakistan.
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