KABUL (SW): The Arg (Presidential Palace) has made it clear that it would only engage in peace talks with groups who denounce violence, acknowledge the Constitution of Afghanistan and promise to protect the gains made over past 14 years.
Sayed Zafar Hashimi, deputy spokesman for the President, said this to a press conference here on Monday. About the preconditions announced by the Taliban, he said that these conditions would be rejected or accepted in line with a set of standards and principles not on individuals' will.
Among the preconditions Taliban set for peace included the recognition of their political office in Qatar, removal of their leaders’ names from the United Nation’s blacklists, removing the bounty announced for the capture and/ or killing of their leaders, release of the Taliban prisoners and an end to ‘propaganda’ against the Taliban.
These conditions were tabled during a two-day consultative conference about peace in Afghanistan organized by Pugwash Organization in Qatar last week.
Taliban representatives said that they would prefer to talk with the United State of America (USA) and not the government of Afghanistan about the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan.
It is worth mentioning that the Taliban used to emphasize on the exit of foreign troops as their primary condition for talks in the past. This time however, they did not stress on it or the implementation of Sharia Law in the country.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, head of Taliban political office in Doha, his deputies and other members of Taliban movement attended the conference organized by Pugwash.
ENDS
