The Afghan government-backed peace negotiating team in Qatar on Monday said the main issue in the talks with Taliban representatives was ceasefire, which was still being discussed.
Earlier today(on Monday), contact groups involving Kabul and Taliban negotiators met in an effort to finalize rules and procedures for the ongoing peace talks in Doha.
A member of the government negotiating team, Nader Naderi, tweeted on Monday: “Contact groups of both delegations held a meeting on Monday and discussed ways of finalising rules and procedure.”
In a video press conference, he said, “What is very important and what we are still discussing are two main issues that have been brought to the table ahead of time and we need to come up with a solution that will continue to be discussed on monday.”
Naderi said the debate on Afghanistan’s values should end soon in order to discuss fundamental issues — ceasefire and end of conflict — because it was people’s demand.
He added they knew the people of Afghanistan were hoping for a good outcome of the talks, so their colleagues were working responsibly.
A few days back, US Special Representative for Afghanistan Peace Process Zalmay Khalilzad said the Taliban will not accept a permanent ceasefire until there is a political settlement in Afghanistan,
Talking to a US television, Khalilzad said the Taliban were trying to wait until a political settlement was reached and will announce ceasefire after a general agreement.
However, previously Khalilzad had repeatedly said that the US-Taliban agreement would be signed on the condition of a ceasefire in Afghanistan but it did not happen.
On the other hand, the Taliban have said they will discuss other key issues to pave the ground for truce in Afghanistan.
On the other hand, some Wolesi Jirga on Monday criticized Taliban’s conditions that led to a delay in the talks.
Zabihullah Attiq, a lawmaker from Badakhshan province, told today’s(on Monday) session that some conditions of Taliban were beyond implementation.
Ghulam Hussain Naseri, another member of the lower house, said the Taliban were trying to suggest conditions that were impossible and against the Constitution.
