Afghan president’s peace offer widely welcomed, but Taliban has yet to react

KABUL, March 2– Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani in his
speech at Kabul conference on Wednesday offered talks with the Taliban
without any preconditions to encourage the hardliner group for dialogue
with government to end endemic war in the war-battered country.

The offer made by president includes recognition of Taliban as a political
group, ceasefire and release of Taliban prisoners, opening political office
for Taliban in Kabul or any other Afghan cities, issuing passport and
freedom of travel for the Taliban and reviewing constitution if Taliban
wants. According to local media reports, the offer for peace talks made by
president Ghani has been widely welcomed. The UN Assistance Mission in
Afghanistan (UNAMA) has welcomed the Afghan government’s renewed call for
“unconditional” peace talks with the Taliban and urged all parties involved
to engage at earliest time to find negotiated settlement, the newspaper
Afghanistan Time reported citing UNAMAS’s statement on Thursday.

Delegates from more than 20 countries including Pakistan, China, India, the
United States and international agencies attended Kabul conference titled
“Kabul Process for Peace and Security Cooperation” aimed at finding
negotiated settlement to Afghanistan’s lingering crisis opened here on
Wednesday. The participants in a declaration released late Wednesday
strongly condemned terrorism, expressed support to Afghan government and
reiterated backing to ending Afghan suffering through an inclusive
political process as well as military action against terrorists, terrorist
sanctuaries and terrorist support infrastructures. “We reiterate our
continued support to the Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and
reconciliation process and collectively agree that direct talks between the
Afghan government and the Taliban — without any preconditions and without
the threats of violence — constitute the most viable way to end the
ongoing agony of the Afghan people,” read the declaration.

The newspaper Daily Afghanistan-e-Ma, in its editorial backed the Kabul
conference and said that the offer made by president Ghani could encourage
Taliban to chose for dialogue. However, the Taliban group which has
repeatedly rejected the offer for talks with Afghan government and ahead of
Kabul conference called upon Washington to enter talks with Taliban, has
yet to react to president Ghani’s offer for negotiation. – XINHUA