The much-awaited face-to-face talks between the Afghan government and Taliban will start within the next two weeks and will be held in a European nation, the State Minister for Peace Affairs, Abdul Salam Rahimi, said on Saturday.
The ministry has started consultations with different stakeholders on forming a 15-member negotiating team who will lead the peace talks with the Taliban, he said.
Rahimi adds that names of the members of the negotiating team have been shortlisted, and the list is about to be finalized.
Members of the team will include some delegates of the recent Doha meeting and people with peace and negotiations background, he said, adding that members of the team will represent different layers of society, including religious scholars, women and civil society members.
The State Minister for Peace Affairs said they are making arrangements for the trip of the negotiating team members.
Rahimi called on the warring sides to reduce level of violence ahead of the direct talks.
In the meantime, a Taliban delegation from Qatar office led by their deputy founder, Mullah Baradar, visited Indonesia on Saturday.
The group’s spokesman in a statement confirmed the visit, saying the delegation met with Indonesian authorities, including foreign minister and vice president of the country.
The government announcement of direct talks between Afghan government and Taliban representatives comes as Taliban have so far consistently refused to sit for talks with government, stressing that it can only happen after the US declares a timetable for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan, however, the group has not specifically commented on Rahimi’s remarks.
The new development emerges as US envoy for Afghan peace, Zalmai Khalilzad, has been in Kabul for the past few days to consult Afghan officials on peace and push the government for forming a national negotiating team for talks with the Taliban. Khalilzad has met Afghans from different walks of life for consultation over the deal the US is about strike with the militant group.
