Qatar’s Emir, Ghani discuss peace process

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani had a phone conversation with President Ghani and discussed the peace process, the Presidential Palace said in a statement.

Sheikh Tamim said that he and his country are ready to help facilitate the Afghan peace process, and during his visit with the Taliban he reminded them that today’s Afghanistan is not a country two decades ago, but a series of new realities has emerged in Afghanistan and the country has changed, said the Palace.

“The new realities of Afghanistan are that the country now has an elected legitimate government and the Taliban must accept that it represents its people on behalf of the Afghan government and it raises serious and legitimate demands,” the Palace quoted Sheikh Tamim.

And of course, the Taliban also has demands that will be discussed during the negotiations, he said. Ghani thanked Sheikh Tamin and said he was open to further discussions about peace.

On Saturday, Khalilzad and Mullah Abdul GhaniBaradar, the co-founder of Taliban, signed the peace agreement at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, the capital of Qatar, following 18 months of negotiations.

At the ceremony, foreign ministers and representatives of almost 30 countries and international organizations attended. The agreement was signed following a successful weeklong period of a reduction in violence which was announced on February 22.

However, on Monday the Taliban apparently issued an order calling on their troops to resume attacks on Afghan government forces, and Tuesday dozens of attacks had been reported around the country.(TOLOnews)