Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The Taliban on Tuesday (January 22) announced that their meeting with U.S. representatives in Doha, capital of Qatar would continue tomorrow (Wednesday).
In a brief message available with Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said: “Meeting with U.S. representatives in Doha would continue for tomorrow.”
The talks were started yesterday. Mujahid had yesterday said that the meeting would continue for two days. However, now the gathering has stretched to third day.
Some sources told Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) that 11 persons headed by Khalilzad attended the gatherings held yesterday and today. Similarly, Eight Taliban representatives took part in the meetings.
The talks were held in friendly environment, the sources said. The internal issues of Afghanistan were not discussed. The Taliban are discussed only those issues which, according to Taliban, are linked with the U.S.
Both the sides of the talks have not shared details of the meetings so far.
It is pertinent to mention here that spokesman for High Peace Council of Afghanistan addressed a press conference today. He hoped that these meetings would not be continuous. Prolonged meetings could create more issues, he said. He went on to say that developments would be seen in the issue of peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban in the next few months.
Abdullah speaks at Davos, criticizes Afghan Taliban: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday addressed leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos where he outlined the Afghan government’s vision for peace and reconciliation with the Taliban .
The CEO however clarified that a wider segment of society – the Afghan people in general – were not in support of the Taliban’s perception of governance or to see them back in power.
“Taliban are asking for Islamic Emirate which is a different type of ruling, like the religious scholars are getting together and appointing an Amir (Emire) so everybody could be obedient to that type of system while we embarked upon a different system,” Abdullah told a panel of world leaders at Davos.
The CEO said that the Taliban’s hardline approach towards the Afghan government has been one of the key obstacles undermining intra-Afghan dialogue with government in its bid to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict in the country. (AIP)
