Calling Afghanistan’s turmoil as Jihad instead of conflict and making Hanafi School of Jurisprudence (Fiqh) as a guide to all aspects of terms and conditions of intra-Afghan talks in Doha remain the two major contradictory points, a well-placed source said Sunday.
A member of the Afghan government-backed negotiating team, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Taliban wanted to describe the past 20 years of turmoil in Afghanistan as Jihad and insisted on Hanafi Fiqh to serve as a guide to resolving religious issues but the government team did not agree with this.
A third contradictory issue surfaced in the talks when a Taliban negotiating team member Mullah Khirullah Khairkhwa said the Feb 29 agreement between the Taliban and the US should be included as part of the text in the terms and condition of the intra-Afghan talks.
The source claimed the Afghan government team was intentionally delaying the talks and wanted to sabotage the process.
The Afghan government side insists the US-Taliban talks were separate and the intra-Afghan talks would be a different discussion.
According to Khairkhwa, the Taliban wanted the Hanafi Fiqh to serve as a guide to resolving religious issues but Shia members in the Afghan team stressed on inclusion of Jaafaria Fiqh as well.
He said if discussion on the Constitution begins in future, the issue of Jaafaria Fiqh and other sectarian groups could be discussed there.
The Afghan government and its negotiating team did not react to the Taliban’s assertion.
But Najia Anwari, spokesperson for the State Ministry for Peace Affairs, said that reaching an agreement would talk time and added that talks were moving ahead.
Presidential Advisor Shah Hussain Murtazavi said that the US and the Taliban agreement on troops withdrawal took 18 months while there were several issues between the Afghan government and Taliban to discuss, which may take years.
Earlier, Head of High National Reconciliation Council (HNRC) Abdullah Abdullah discussed recent development in the ongoing peace talks with the government team in Doha through a video conference.
“You have been in Doha on a big national mission and we reached there with the message of peace. The government and the people of Afghanistan fully support you,” Abdullah told the negotiating team members.
According to the HNRC statement, Afghan Chief Negotiator Masoum Stanikzai briefed Abdullah on peace talks and development that took place during the talks.
After hearing from Stanikzai, Abdullah shared his views and renewed his commitment to ending the conflict and establishing durable peace in the country.
