Sayyaf: Political consensus on peace to be created soon

KABUL (TOLO News): Former Mujahideen leader Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf who has met with Afghan President Ghani, politicians and Qatari envoy in the past two days, said a political consensus around peace will be formed in the near future and that the main phase of the peace talks will begin after the signing of the US-Taliban deal – which is expected on Feb. 29, in Doha.

On Monday, Sayyaf met with President Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and former president Hamid Karzai in separate meetings.

The Presidential Palace and Abdullah’s office in statements said the meetings were about recent developments around elections as well as the peace process.

“Political consensus is not an impossible task. You will witness that a political consensus will be formed in the near future,” Sayyaf told TOLOnews.

“The discussions were about cooperation on peace and other matters in the country,” said Fraidoon Khwazoon, a spokesman for Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign team.

Other politicians say Sayyaf’s presence will help overcome the complicated political situation in the country.

“Now that Ustad Sayyaf has started work in this respect, we welcome him and confirm him,” said Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, head of the Hizb-e-Islami party.

Meanwhile, Rahmatullah Nabil, former NDS chief who ran in last year’s presidential elections, in an article published on TOLOnews on Monday suggests the establishment of a “national reconciliation government” to overcome the current crisis in the country.

He writes that coming out of the current crisis seems difficult as days are passing, but it is not impossible.

He adds that the country is witnessing a reduction in violence, but regretfully, problems created after election results announcement has made people concerned more than ever.

The former NDS chief also says that the current problems are the outcome of the quest of the National Unity Government for power and their lack of interest in thinking about the consequences of their acts.

Nabil suggests that there is a need that the leaders should ignore short-term interests so that they can take the country out of the crisis.