Pompeo urges Afghan leaders to form inclusive govt

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo in a tweet on Saturday said that he his “thankful to his Afghan counterparts for preparing an inclusive negotiating team for intra-Afghan negotiations,” and urged them to also form an inclusive government.

“I also applaud your commitment to begin releasing prisoners and your commendable effort to set conditions for peace and reconciliation,” Pompeo said.

“I urge you to show the same commitment to the effort to form an inclusive government. This step plus decisions already taken can help all Afghans realize a brighter future,” he said.

A Taliban spokesman on Friday said that a 15-member delegation from the group will visit Kabul where they will talk about the prisoner’s issues.

However, the Taliban also released a statement saying that the group has some reservations about the peace negotiating team formed by the Afghan government and that the Afghan government can take part in the intra-Afghan talks “only as a side like other Afghan factions.”

“The team announced by the (Afghan govt) is…against the peace agreement between the Taliban and the US,” said the statement.

“In order to reach lasting and real peace, this should be formed with the agreement of all sides, so that it can represent others too. But it looks like other sides are not satisfied with the team announced,” the statement said.

On Saturday the Office of National Security Council (ONSC) said the date for the arrival of a Taliban delegation to monitor the release of the Taliban prisoners is still unclear.

Jawed Faisal, a spokesman for the ONSC has said that in order to accelerate the peace process, the Taliban should avoid violence and that the Afghan government is ready to begin the peace talks in Kabul. (TOLOnews)