Three-day international meet on Afghanistan begins in Doha

Ashraf Siddiqui Doha A three-day talk session on Afghan negotiations between Extended Troika group and the Taliban-Afghan government delegates kicked off ...

Ashraf Siddiqui DohaA three-day talk session on Afghan negotiations between Extended Troika group and the Taliban-Afghan government delegates kicked off in Doha at the Hotel Grand Sheraton. The meeting is being hosted by Qatar. The first session of talks among the Extended Troika group members continued for almost three hours on the opening day under the mediation of HE Dr Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, special envoy of the Foreign Minister of Qatar for Counter Terrorism and Mediation and Conflict Resolution.The Extended Troika members included Zalmay Khalilzad, US special representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation; Jean Arnald, UN secretary-general representative on Afghanistan; Tomas Niklesson, special representative of European Union on Afghanistan; Yue Xiaoyong, Chinese special representative on Afghanistan; and Mohammad Sadiq Khan, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan.The others include Mansoor Ahmad Khan, ambassador of Pakistan to Afghanistan; Jonathan Paul Wilks, ambassador of the UK to Qatar; and Ismatulla Irgasjev, Uzbek president’s special representative for Afghanistan.The Afghan government delegation headed by Dr Abdullah Abdullah, head of High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan, had a meeting with Troika group after the lunch break followed by Afghan Taliban delegation meeting with the Troika members to discuss possibility and ways to continue smooth and fast negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban’s negotiating teams to reach an acceptable and peaceful solution to the Afghan conflict. A five-member Taliban delegation headed by Molvi Abdussalam Hanafi met the Extended Troika participating members.The US State Department has recently urged the Taliban to stop military offensives, stressing that political settlement is the only way to bringing stability and development to Afghanistan.The meeting is expected to persuade the Taliban to embrace peace and avoid any military escalation in Afghanistan. The Taliban forces have captured five provincial capital cities during last one week and are seen keeping their pressure on grounds since their forces have been reported to be moving forward to take over major cities of Kandahar province and Lashkar Gah, provincial city of Helmand province.