ISLAMABAD: The 12-member Afghan Taliban delegation on Thursday agreed that the resumption of peace process with the United States was the only way to end the conflict in Afghanistan following its meetings with senior Pakistani officials in Islamabad, said the foreign office of Pakistan.
Diplomatic sources confirmed to Arab News that representatives of Afghan insurgent group also met Prime Minister Imran Khan during the day.
Pakistan has been playing the role of a facilitator, trying to catalyze the Afghan peace process, since last year.
Led by the Taliban co-founder, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the delegation is expected to meet US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, this week who arrived in Islamabad ahead of the Taliban Political Commission’s visit.
During a weekly news briefing, the foreign office spokesman, Dr. Mohammad Faisal, said the talks between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban were “highly sensitive and delicate” and the process needed to be “handled in a careful manner.”
He declined to divulge further details of the delegation’s agenda and its scheduled meetings in the country.
The US and Taliban were on the verge of signing an agreement last month, but the process collapsed after the insurgent group killed an American soldier in Afghanistan.
In an exclusive telephonic interview, Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen told Arab News on Thursday: “It is the US side that retracted, and they should come to the agreement and sign the agreement. It is the only peaceful solution to the Afghan issue.”
Shaheen said that all regional countries “should support the Afghan people in the liberation” of their country and “ending the occupation” of their land.
“Based on our policy we would want to have good relations with our neighboring countries, for the stability of Afghanistan. We would want their role in the construction of Afghanistan,” the Taliban spokesman said.
Resumption of talks with US vital for Afghan peace, say Taliban
Resumption of talks with US vital for Afghan peace, say Taliban
- Diplomatic sources confirm representatives of Afghan insurgent group also met Prime Minister Khan
- Taliban spokesman urges all regional countries to “support the Afghan people in the liberation” of their country
Top Pakistani clerics warn government against sending troops to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Pakistani clerics raise alarm over reports of pressure on Muslim nations to provide troops for Gaza stabilization force under Trump peace plan
- Islamabad has previously said that it is willing to join the international stabilization force but ‘not ready’ to play any role in disarming Hamas
ISLAMABAD: A group of Pakistan’s top religious and political leaders on Monday warned the government against sending Pakistani troops to Gaza to disarm Palestinian group Hamas, amid discussions over a proposed International Stabilization Force (ISF) for the Palestinian territory.
The representative gathering, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, brought together leaders from Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought, alongside leaders of the country’s main religio-political parties, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).
The international stabilization force, which is to be composed of troops from Muslim countries, is the cornerstone of President Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza announced in Sept. Islamabad has previously said it is willing to join the ISF but “not ready” to play any role in disarming Hamas. Hamas’s Gaza chief Khalil Al-Hayya said this month the group had a “legitimate right” to hold weapons, while Israel has repeatedly insisted that Hamas be disarmed.
In a joint statement issued after the meeting in the port city of Karachi on Monday, Pakistani clerics raised alarm over reports that international pressure is mounting on Muslim-majority nations to provide troops for the transitional security force in Gaza, following Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
“In such circumstances, demands are being made to Muslim countries that they send their forces there to disarm Hamas,” the statement said. “Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan.”
Last month, the United Nations Security Council approved Washington’s plan, which called for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Trump would head, and the stabilization force, which would be empowered to oversee borders, provide security and demilitarize the territory.
The gathering of Pakistani clerics urged Islamabad to resist any diplomatic overtures from Washington regarding troop deployment.
“This gathering, with full emphasis, demands the Government of Pakistan refrain from sending its forces to disarm Hamas and that it should not yield to any pressure in this regard,” the statement said.
The assembly expressed complete support for the liberation of Palestine and described the effort as a “duty of every Muslim.”
It said that Pakistan’s armed forces are “imbued with the spirit of jihad” and that the “notion of placing them against any sacred struggle for the liberation of Baitul Muqaddas or Palestine is impossible for the nation to accept.”
The religious leaders characterized the proposal as a “conspiracy” from which the government must “protect the country.”
Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi and the prime minister’s spokesperson for foreign media, Mosharraf Zaidi, did not respond to Arab News requests for comment on the statement.
Washington reportedly views Pakistan as a prime candidate for the ISF, given its experience in high-intensity border conflicts and internal counter-insurgency operations.
Last week, Pakistan’s foreign office said that Islamabad had not taken any decision on joining the proposed stabilization force for Gaza and had received no formal request from the US or any other country in this regard.
“I am not aware of any specific request made to Pakistan. We will inform you about any development if it takes place,” Andrabi told reporters.
He also sought to distance the government from rumors of a pending visit by Pakistan’s defense forces chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to the US to meet President Trump.
