ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will press for a political solution to the Afghan conflict in the two-day international peace conference on Afghanistan in Tashkent, a Pakistani official said on Sunday.
Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif will represent Pakistan in the conference on “Peace Process, Security Cooperation and Regional Connectivity.”
The forum in the Uzbek capital will begin on March 26, and will be attended by global and regional powers as well as Afghanistan’s neighbors, the foreign office said.
A Paksitani senior official, a member of the Pakistani delegation to the Tashkent conference, told Arab News that the main agenda is “peace and stability in Afghanistan by promoting cooperation for Afghan reconciliation and in counterterrorism and counter-narcotics.
“Our effort is that the conference should focus on the peace effort. We will plead that regional counterterrorism cooperation should be based on engagement, not criticism,” he said.
An Uzbek foreign ministry’s statement said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the conference.
The conference comes weeks after Ghani unveiled his peace strategy for talks with the Taliban insurgents. The plan includes recognition of the Taliban as a political party, allowing the group to open an office in Kabul, removing the names of Taliban leaders from the UN sanction list, and releasing Taliban prisoners.
The Taliban played down Ghani’s peace overture and in two letters to the American people and congressmen last month called for direct dialogue with the US to end the Afghan war, saying increased US military airstrikes under Trump’s new strategy have not “retaken even a single inch of land” from the insurgency.
Central Asian states have had only limited involvement in the Afghan issue, but the growing threat of Daesh and the prolonged war in Afghanistan have forced them to play an active role.
Uzbekistan says President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has organized the Tashkent conference jointly with the Afghan side as an important part of the country’s strategy to provide regional security and stability.
International and regional initiatives have failed to broker any peace negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban.
Besides the Kabul process, other initiatives include Moscow Format, the Heart of Asia — Istanbul Process, the Quadrilateral Coordination Group of Afghanistan, China, Pakistan and the US, the International Contact Group on Afghanistan, the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group and the Regional Economic Cooperation Conference on Afghanistan (RECCA).
Pakistani officials believe Uzbekistan is trying to “please both the US and Russia” in view of its relationship with both countries.
“The US and Afghanistan are seeing it as continuation of the Kabul process, while Russia is trying to use its influence over Uzbekistan to bring its point of view,” an official said.
A Pakistani official who is privy to the consultations underway in Tashkent said there will be no mention in the conference declaration of the presence of the foreign troops.
“The declaration will not talk about it,” he told Arab News.
An Uzbek foreign ministry statement said the conference will adopt the “Tashkent declaration” to suggest the peace process should be Afghan-led and Afghan-owned and in accordance with the provisions of resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.
Among those invited to the Tashkent meeting are the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Special Representative of the Organization for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as foreign ministers of China, Russia, US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Islamabad seeks political solution to Afghan conflict in Tashkent
Islamabad seeks political solution to Afghan conflict in Tashkent
Row erupts in UK over support for British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah
- Arab Spring campaigner’s ‘abhorrent’ social media posts resurface after he arrived in Britain following release from Egyptian prison
- PM Starmer criticized for glowing welcome to activist who had previously been supported by both Tory and Labour governments
LONDON: The UK prime minister is facing criticism after he celebrated the return to Britain of a human rights activist who was recently released from an Egyptian prison but whose past social media posts apparently contained violent and antisemitic language.
Successive British governments have campaigned for the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a dual national who had been imprisoned in Egypt for most of the past 14 years. He returned to the UK on Friday after Egyptian authorities lifted a travel ban that had forced him to remain in the country since he was freed in September.
But a senior member of the opposition Conservative Party on Saturday criticized Prime Minister Keir Starmer for giving a “personal, public endorsement” to Abd El-Fattah when Starmer said he was “delighted” the activist had been reunited with his family in Britain.
Robert Jenrick, the Conservative spokesman on justice issues, demanded to know whether Starmer knew about historical social media posts in which Abd El-Fattah allegedly endorsed killing “Zionists’’ and police. Jenrick also called on Starmer to condemn Abd El-Fattah’s statements and withdraw his “unalloyed endorsement” of the activist.
“Nobody should be imprisoned arbitrarily nor for peaceful dissent,’’ Jenrick wrote. “But neither should the prime minister place the authority of his office behind someone whose own words cross into the language of racism and bloodshed.”
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it had been “a long-standing priority” of governments under both major parties to work for Abd El-Fattah’s release. But that does not imply an endorsement of his social media posts, the spokesman said.
“The government condemns Mr. El-Fattah’s historic tweets and considers them to be abhorrent,” the statement said, using a slightly different style for his last name.
Abd El-Fattah’s family in the UK had vigorously campaigned for his release, arguing that he had spent most of the past 14 years behind bars because of his opposition to the government of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.
His mother, Laila Soueif, 69, staged a 10-month hunger strike to pressure British authorities to do more to secure her son’s release.
Starmer on Friday paid tribute to Abd El-Fattah’s family and all the others who campaigned for his freedom.
“I’m delighted that Alaa Abd El-Fattah is back in the UK and has been reunited with his loved ones, who must be feeling profound relief,” Starmer said.
But soon after Abd El-Fattah arrived at London’s Heathrow Airport, critics began circulating historical social media posts in which he appeared to endorse the killing of Zionists and police.
The Times of London reported that Abd El-Fattah has previously said the comments were taken out of context and were part of a “private conversation” that took place during an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
Abd El-Fattah’s press team didn’t immediately response to a request for comment, and it was not immediately clear whether the posts were authentic.
