KABUL/ QUEETA (SW) – A delegation from the Taliban office in Qatar has traveled to Pakistan to consult with the group’s leaders, sources told Salam Watandar.
According to media reports, a delegation from the Taliban’s Qatar bureau had traveled to Quetta to discuss the proposed Istanbul conference on peace in Afghanistan.
Though, Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban’s political bureau in Qatar, has denied the delegation’s visit, Razzaq Barq, a freelance journalist in Quetta, Pakistan, told Salam Watandar that the Taliban delegation had arrived in Quetta from Qatar on Saturday.
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He said the Taliban delegation had been consulting with its leaders since yesterday. He added the Taliban’s condition for attending the Istanbul meeting remained the release of 7,000 of their prisoners. “They have come here to consult with their leaders in Pakistan on whether to attend the meeting to be held in Istanbul”, he said.
Maulvi Qalamuddin, a former member of the Taliban, said he was unaware of the Taliban delegation’s visit to Pakistan. According to him, the Taliban will attend the Istanbul meeting on a conditional basis. “They will take part in the meeting, but the condition is that Turkey provides information to the Taliban about this meeting, and that the decision of this meeting shall not be final and binding”, he said.
Meanwhile, Mohibullah Sharif, a political analyst, argued the Taliban will discuss any final decision with their leaders in Pakistan. He said there may be the US pressure on the Afghan government and the Taliban to reach a political agreement.
The Taliban’s visit to Quetta comes as several US and Turkish officials said a major Afghan peace conference would be held in Turkey in the coming days.
ENDS
