Afghanistan Peace CampaignTolo News
27 December 2020
Next round of negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan gov’t will begin next month, a top official has said.
Peace talks began on September 12 at a luxury hotel in Doha, but negotiations are currently on a break until January 5.
“The leadership committee of the council … decided to hold the talks in Doha,” he tweeted, adding that many of the countries that had earlier volunteered to host the talks withdrew their offers because of COVID-19.
In a separate statement, the presidency tweeted that Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, who heads the council, held a meeting on Sunday.
The two “discussed the venue for the next round of talks” after which Ghani announced the government’s support for a second stage of talks with the Taliban, the presidency said.
Earlier in December, negotiators from both sides decided to take a break after months of often frustrating meetings which were bogged down by disputes on the basic framework of discussions and religious interpretations.
Prior to going on the break, negotiators finally announced they were ready to proceed on preliminary lists of agenda items when talks resumed on January 5.
But Ghani and some other top Afghan officials immediately called for the next round of meetings to be held in Afghanistan.
“It is not appropriate to insist on holding talks in luxurious hotels. It is necessary that the people see how the talks happen, which issues are focused on and why,” Ghani said soon after the break in talks was announced.
The Taliban did not comment on Ghani’s call, but they have in the past always refused to hold the negotiations in Afghanistan.
The armed group has a political office in Doha and its negotiating team resides there.
Plans for renewed negotiations come amid a surge of violence across Afghanistan in recent months, including in Kabul, which has seen regular bomb attacks and targeted killings of prominent figures.
Republic Team: Taliban’s Islamic Political System Unclear
Afghans inside the country have been pushing to preserve the gains the country has made in its move toward democracy over the past two decades
They said that the Taliban continues to talk about the Islamic politics and the political system, however they are not able to come up with a clear definition about it.
Members of the republic team also said that the Taliban’s ideology has not changed despite reports in the Western media that the group’s ideas and views had changed.
“The Taliban have the same views they had 25 years ago about women, music, arts, elections, freedom of speech and human rights,” members of the republic team said.
“My understanding is that the Taliban’s ideology is the same ideology that they had 25 years ago, the Taliban’s views about Shia women, elections, music, arts and human rights have not changed,” said Abdul Hafiz Mansour, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban.
“When you see the demands of the Taliban, they have been insisting on some major and unnecessary demands, therefore, there is a need for consultation about these issues with the political leaders,” said Ghulam Farooq Majroh, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks with the Taliban.
Issues around human rights, women’s liberties and the Taliban’s views about civil liberties based on Islamic principles are said to be among the controversial issues in the talks.
“The understanding that the Taliban have about the religious definition of rights of the women is something that we have seen during their government,” said Fawzia Koofi, a member of the peace negotiating team representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
The Taliban at the moment did not have a comment on the issue.
However, Afghans inside the country have been pushing to preserve the gains the country has made in its move toward democracy over the past two decades.
According to the republic’s team, the most important difference of opinion between the two delegations in the second round of negotiations will be the nature of the future system and the agreement to call a ceasefire.
The Taliban have said that they will agree to a ceasefire along with an agreement on the structure of the future political system. However, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is insisting that a ceasefire be put in place before talking about the government’s structure.