Both sides keen to keep talking despite new hurdles in intra-Afghan negotiations
https://arab.news/maqw4
A rather contentious issue has been inserted into the slow-moving Afghan peace process following a suggestion by President Ashraf Ghani, that the next round of intra-Afghan negotiations should be held inside Afghanistan.
Taliban rejected the idea and insisted that the next round of talks will be held at its usual venue, Doha, on January 5.
Ghani’s proposal to his negotiating team to consult the Afghan people before the next round also raised questions as some felt it could delay resumption of talks.
The two sides took a 20-day break from talks that began in Qatar’s capital, Doha, on September 12 and were deadlocked for days during preliminary negotiations on the rules of procedures.
Finally, an agreement was reached to allow the talks to proceed to the next stage for finalizing the agenda.
It seems problems arose before the agenda could be decided due to the different priorities listed and exchanged by the two negotiating teams. It was felt after some days of fruitless negotiations that they needed to consult their respective leadership during the break and resume talks on January 5.
The two sides haven’t publicly announced their agenda points, but sections of the Afghan media claiming to have seen the drafts, reported that Kabul had placed the cease-fire at the top of its list, followed by preservation of national sovereignty, the freedom of the media and stopping foreign fighters from operating in Afghanistan.
Kabul’s proposal for shifting the venue of the talks to Afghanistan triggered a debate even though this cannot happen until the two sides overcome the huge mistrust between them. It is almost certain that the next round of negotiations will take place in Doha.
Rahimullah Yusufzai
It also wanted to put an end to foreign interference in Afghanistan, promoting national reconciliation, ensuring the rights of victims of conflict, demilitarizing the society, working for self-reliance of the country and preventing the processing and trafficking of drugs.
Its agenda points also included protecting Afghanistan’s borders, providing urgent development and humanitarian relief to the people, ensuring the return of Afghan refugees, empowering national institutions and charting a political roadmap and the mechanism of implementing the agreement to be reached during the negotiations backed by international guarantees.
Islam was the dominant theme in the agenda points listed by Taliban.
Shariah was at the top as Taliban wanted the establishment of an Islamic government’s structure along with an Islamic council made up of senior religious scholars. Another point was ensuring the rights of women and all citizens and respecting basic human rights based on Islamic principles.
One more point was adopting policies in all sectors based on developed international norms keeping in view Islamic and national values.
Taliban negotiators wanted efforts to ensure unity, upholding national interests and Islamic solidarity in Afghanistan, providing educational facilities and compensating widows and orphans. The list also mentioned Taliban views about the type of government, security institutions, the constitution and foreign policy.
Kabul’s proposal for shifting the venue of the talks to Afghanistan triggered a debate even though this cannot happen until the two sides overcome the huge mistrust between them. It is almost certain that the next round of negotiations will take place in Doha where senior Taliban members are based.
The Taliban Political Commission has been functioning in Doha since 2010 and there is no indication that the Taliban intend to shift it to any other place in the near future. Certain countries offered to open up an office for Taliban or host peace talks, but those offers weren’t taken up.
Taliban leaders are satisfied operating out of Doha as the government of Qatar has played good host as well as mediator in the Afghan peace process.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation, expressed his concern over the pause in talks at a time when fighting was continuing and violence was rising. He argued that negotiations should resume on the agreed date.
Khalilzad led the US negotiating team that signed the landmark peace agreement with Taliban on February 29, 2020 after several rounds of talks that began in 2018, and is aware how difficult and tiring such negotiations are. He must be hoping the momentum of peace talks is maintained, as a break could generate controversies and create hurdles in the process.
Intra-Afghan negotiations are even more challenging as rival Afghans are meeting for the first time after more than 19 years of war. Besides, Taliban negotiators are sitting face-to-face with not only Afghan government representatives, but also nominees of anti-Taliban groups opposed to the coalition government of President Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.
Abdullah, who is leading the peace process as the head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, also stressed the need for resuming the talks on January 5 as he felt the delay of even one day was a source of agony for the Afghans.
Earlier, he had commented that the talks’ venue should not become a hurdle in moving forward the peace process even though he too preferred holding the negotiations inside Afghanistan.
Despite the differences that have haunted the negotiations, both sides appear keen to keep talking. Other stakeholders, including the US, Qatar and Pakistan, are also backing the peace process through visible and sometimes quiet diplomacy, even though its slow pace is cause for frustration.
*Rahimullah Yusufzai is a senior political and security analyst in Pakistan. He was the first to interview Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar and twice interviewed Osama Bin Laden in 1998. Twitter: @rahimyusufzai1
