Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday insisted Afghans to lead the process of talks and reconciliation with the Taliban and other Afghan armed groups, saying the talks belonged to Afghans. “Peace process and talks belong to Afghans and no foreign country or organisation can deprive the Afghan nation of this right,” President Karzai told the parliament while inaugurating its second year. He said his government would no longer oppose the Taliban office in Qatar if it helped bring peace to Afghanistan. “Afghanistan hoped that the Taliban would open their office inside their own country, or in an important Islamic country like Saudi Arabia or Turkey. However, despite all these and because of the inclination of the Afghan people for peace and to end the pretexts for war, we do not oppose the Taliban office in Qatar and we have agreed on this. We have agreed to the establishment of an office for the Taliban in Qatar for the sake of peace and for the sake of achieving the aspiration of peace,” he said.
Afghans must lead peace talks with Taliban, says Karzai
