MONITORING (SW) – President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani has said if the Taliban defy efforts for peace, he would not abandon the people and security forces as the commander-in-chief for the sake of order in the country.
In conversation with PBS’s Amna Nawaz, President Ghani said he remained committed to the principle of ensuring order.
“Are they (Taliban) going to accept elections as the fundamental basis of moving forward or not? I’m not the obstacle. I have brought it. I have declared it. I built consensus around it”, he said adding the insurgents need to clarify they are not pursuing the ‘Trojan horse strategy’ to strip the government of capacity, behead the government, and then carry out. “This is a time-wasting technique to focus on me, rather than on the solution”, said the president.
Responding to a question, he said the elections will have to take place because without a delay.
“The threat of terrorism has changed. It has not disappeared. We are all agreed on this.
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Two, the United States is committed to support things, providing support. This is financial, in the security area, in the economic area, in the humanitarian area, because the United States, fortunately, shares the values of supporting the gains of the last 20 years. And our discussion is enormously productive. The same, fortunately, applies to NATO members and non-NATO members who have been our partners”, said Ghani.
About women’ rights, the President said if Taliban want peace, then it has to be peace that respects the gains of the citizens of Afghanistan and among them, first and foremost, women.
“If they want peace and want to gain power through violence and impose a dictatorial regime, than all the patriotic forces of Afghanistan would have to rally and make a decision. And that issue, unfortunately, would have to be decided on the field of battle”, he added.
About the role of regional countries, he said there are international criminal networks who thrive on the drug trafficking and want disorder. “The terrorist networks are not just from the region.
ENDS
