Afghan President Hamid Karzai will fly to Qatar in the next few days to discuss peace with the Taliban and open a political office for the group, said a statement from the president’s office on Sunday. Karzai will also use the visit to further Afghanistan-Qatar relations and meet the country’s officials, presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said.
The Taliban office had been planned for some time and was formally acknowledged as a step forward for peace negotiations during the UK, Afghanistan and Pakistan trilateral summit three months ago.
“President Karzai’s trip is the result of an invitation from the Qatari Emir and will involve discussions about mutual cooperation and the peace process,” Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai said at a press conference on Sunday. After the UK summit, Karzai ordered Afghan officials to talk to Qatar about opening the office and signing an agreement with the country.
Karzai’s trip comes after recent speeches where he accused the US of holding secret talks with the Taliban without Afghan involvement. The new US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel, who was in Kabul at the time, dismissed Karzai’s accusations. And the Taliban has denied any talks with the US since last year. Around 18 Taliban members who have shown a desire to negotiate with the Afghan government or join the peace process have recently been killed.
“Over the past month, a number of Taliban who were wanting to join the peace process and had maintained relations with the Afghan government and High Peace Council were recently caught and put in prison, and about 17 or 18 of them were killed after being tortured,” said Aimal Faizi, blaming outsiders for their deaths.
“The peace process is being sabotaged and it will continue to be sabotaged. Some countries do not want the process to be carried out,” he added. The High Peace Council said the deaths and arrests are a sign of the disarray of the peace process both inside and outside Afghanistan, warning that the disorder will end up harming those causing it.
However former Taliban leaders in Kabul are saying that only the establishment of the liaison office will not be sufficient for the group. Former Taliban leader Syed Akbar Agha said unless the government does not free all Taliban detainees from Afghan jails and other prisons under the control of United States, the Taliban group will not sit-in for peace talks.
