KABUL (SW) – China is set to host the next round of intra-Afghan peace talks.
A fresh round of intra-Afghan dialogue is going to be held in China next week, a Taliban spokesman said on Wednesday.
Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s Qatar office spokesman, told Salam Watandar that Deng Xijun, China's special representative for Afghanistan, met with Taliban’s political chief Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Doha, Qatar’s capital, late Tuesday.
During the meeting, Xijun invited the Taliban to a Beijing conference. The Taliban, accepting the invitation, will send a delegation to attend the conference later this month, he said.
China also invited Afghan government representatives and prominent Afghan leaders to the conference.
According to the U.S. State Department statement, special envoys and special representatives of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the U.K. and the U.S. met in EU Headquarters, Brussels on Oct. 22.
It said the participants “acknowledged the widespread and sincere demand of the Afghan people for a lasting peace and an end to the war”.
The statement called on all sides to observe a ceasefire for the duration of intra-Afghan negotiations to enable participants to reach agreement on a political roadmap for Afghanistan’s future.
It called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and other prominent Afghan leaders to focus on preparing the government for formal intra-Afghan negotiations with the Taliban, including the naming of an inclusive, national negotiating team.
ENDS
