ISLAMABAD: Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Taliban representatives are holding talks with US negotiators in Qatar to create a “safe atmosphere” for the signing of a peace agreement.
Taliban chief negotiator Abdul Ghani Baradar met with US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, Gen. Scott Miller, on Monday and discussed in detail “future steps,” Shaheen tweeted Monday night.
“There had been no discussion on cease-fire since the beginning, but the US proposed reduction in violence and our stance is to provide a safe atmosphere during the days of the agreement,” he told Arab News over the phone on Tuesday.
“Cease-fire cannot be declared unless other problems are resolved,” Shaheen said when asked about repeated calls from Afghan government officials for a complete cease-fire.
However he said that a comprehensive and complete cease-fire would be declared after the peace agreement is signed with the US, ” We will also provide a safe passage to the US and other foreign forces following the deal,” he said.
Taliban leadership this month empowered the group’s Qatar-based political representatives to discuss and agree to a proposal by Khalilzad to reduce violence.
Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said in a press conference held in Kabul on Jan. 18 that the government and the people of Afghanistan want a complete cease-fire rather than a reduction in the number of violent incidents.
Meanwhile, former Afghan president Hamid Karzai has disagreed with Kabul’s cease-fire stance. Talking to BBC Pashto in Kabul on Jan. 19, he said any step that could intensify negotiations should be taken immediately.
“Spoilers, who want to block negotiations, are creating the issue of the cease-fire,” Shaheen said referring to Kabul’s position. He did not comment on the venue of the intra-Afghan dialogue.
Special Representative of Germany for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Markus Potzel, who met Afghanistan’s National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib in Kabul on Sunday, said his country will host the dialogue sessions with a “sole purpose of facilitating for the intra-Afghan negotiations and helping the peace process.”