KABUL: Representatives of the Kabul government will take part in a US-led and UN-led conference in Turkey, and a separate meeting in Russia, to halt the Afghan peace process, he said. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sunday.
“Representatives of the Afghan government will take part in both meetings. Consultations are underway on who will be in attendance, ”Gran Hewad, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, told Arab News.
Last week on Tuesday, Kabul said it was “considering” Russia’s offer to hold the talks two days after the release of a letter from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to President Ashraf Ghani over the course.
Blinken’s letter had included an urgent proposal to help resume talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, which began in Doha, Qatar, last September but were unsuccessful.
In addition to the emissaries of the Afghan government, the March 18 meeting in Russia and the Turkey conference scheduled for April will also host representatives from the Afghan National Conciliation Supreme Council (HCNR), factional and influential leaders, and representatives from the US, China and Pakistan.
Although officials in the Ghani administration could not confirm who would be in Afghanistan’s government delegation, the Taliban said it was “reducing participation in both conferences. ”
“Until now, politically charged people have not come to a new position. We are in the same situation that we have been invited for both, and it is being considered, ”Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the Taliban, told Arab News on Sunday.
Russia’s bid to hold the conference comes a week after the US special ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, shared a proposal with Afghanistan’s top leaders, including Ghani, to form a coalition government – which would include Taliban members – as part of efforts to end the Washington Link in Afghanistan, the longest war in American history.
Khalilzad’s proposal was circulated ahead of the May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign troops from Afghanistan, based on a controversial agreement signed between former US President Donald Trump’s administration and the Taliban recently. more than a year.
Moscow, like Iran and Pakistan, has been pushing for foreign forces to pull out of Afghanistan for years. Russia recently held two rounds of talks between the Taliban and influential national leaders, as well as being a vocal supporter for a new government to replace Ghani, whose second term ends after four years.
Ghani has reiterated his opposition to the idea and vowed to oppose the establishment “at the cost of my life. ”
His opposition prompted Blinken’s letter to Ghani – a copy of which was published by several media houses last Sunday – urging the Afghan president to “develop helpful positions” on Khalilzad’s proposals to “jump a peaceful process.”
The letter stressed the urgency for a new government in Afghanistan to break a ceasefire in Doha talks between representatives of the Taliban and Kabul governments, which have been the subject of controversy.
The U.S. secretary of state has been pushing for a UN-sponsored conference with international stakeholders, including proposals to hold a debate between the Taliban and Kabul to arrange conciliation and implement a fire stop.
The letter also made clear to Ghani that US President Joe Biden’s administration will continue to consider a “full withdrawal” of the 2,500 Afghan troops by the May 1 deadline, as negotiated by the Trump administration at the time. controversial contract signed by the Taliban in February Last year.
“I must also make it clear to you, Mr. President, that as our policy process continues in Washington, the US has not rejected any option. We are considering withdrawing our troops by 1 May, and are considering alternatives, ”Blinken said in the letter.
Some of the letter’s recommendations included the establishment of a coalition government that would eventually give power to a permanent government “following the adoption of a new constitution and national elections. ”
In a recent speech, however, Ghani said that “post-election transfer of power is a principle for us not to risk,” arguing that an interim government would “bring the country down to chaos.” like the 1990s ”when the old communist rule collapsed after the departure of former Soviet troops.
Afghan Vice President Amrullah Saleh reaffirmed Ghani’s stance last week when he said: “The West and America have the right to decide on their troops in Afghanistan, but we also have a right not to agree and negotiate the fate of 35 million Afghans based on the schedule of others. “
Shortly after Saleh’s statement, Afghan Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar took a softer tone and told the BBC that the letter was “not a cause for concern for Kabul. Let’s face it in our diplomacy – that connections are made like that – so I don’t see it as a kind of crime or disrespect. ”
The minister said government leaders would “discuss the letter and the proposal, discuss it with national leaders and offer a response later. ”
However, experts believe that Kabul was “avoiding conflict in the realm of the world” by agreeing to take part in both conferences.
“The Afghan government has avoided the first ever disaster by the international community. It will be a bit difficult now. Accepting attendance is just one thing, but who does it is more important, ”Torek Farhadi, an adviser to the previous government, told Arab News.
He said Ghani could be “willing to attend the meetings” as officials from his administration refused to disclose more information about the key partners.
Afghanistan’s political leaders welcomed the move, however, with former president Hamid Karzai saying in an interview with the Associated Press that the US draft for a deal between the Afghan government and the Taliban is the “most likely opportunity best to accelerate stalking peace talks between the countries. sides of war. ”
“Africans themselves are in crisis for peace,” he said.
Ahmad Samin, an Afghan analyst and former adviser to the World Bank, agreed, telling Arab News: “The United States has made it clear that there is only one political solution to the Afghanistan war, in which support between for peace negotiations. ”
He said there was “growing frustration and laziness” in pursuing a partnership with Afghanistan’s mainstream government, “which is full of corruption, human rights abuses and dependence on foreign aid without economic development. or any political. ”
“These are reasons that do not make for a reliable partnership between the United States and Afghanistan. This translates as additional pressure with the United States to engage regionally in future peace talks, ”said Samin.