Afghanistan Govt and Taliban planning to hold talks in Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan Govt and Taliban planning to hold talks in Saudi Arabia

Afghan government officials and representatives of the country’s former Taliban rulers are to hold peace talks in Saudi Arabia, a Riyadh-based Afghan diplomat revealed on Monday.

“An Afghan government delegation and a Taliban delegation will hold talks in Saudi Arabia,” he said without giving a timeframe for the talks.

He said the talks in Saudi would be separate from the US-brokered meetings held in Qatar and be the first such talks to take place in the Kingdom.

Taliban negotiators have begun preliminary discussions with the United States in Qatar on plans for peace talks aimed at ending the decade-long war in Afghanistan.

A member of the Taliban’s leadership council, the Quetta Shura, said Sunday “the idea that the Taliban should have a point of contact in Saudi is pushed by the Pakistan and Afghan governments.”

Pakistan was feeling “sidelined” from the US-brokered talks, he said.

Supporting this theory, Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Janan Mosazai announced Sunday that Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar would visit Kabul on Wednesday.

Mosazai told a news conference the visit would mark a “new phase” in cooperation between the two countries, adding that Khar would hold talks with Afghan Foreign Minister Zulmai Rasoul and President Hamid Karzai.

“Both sides will discuss the fight against terrorism and Pakistan’s essential support to the peace process in Afghanistan.

Khar’s visit comes after Pakistan made overtures to Afghanistan to resume talks on the Taliban that broke down following the assassination of Kabul’s chief peace envoy, Burhanuddin Rabbani, in September, officials said.

Karzai accused Pakistan for the murder and last month said Islamabad was sabotaging all attempts at negotiations with the Taliban, which US-led forces toppled in 2001.

The Afghan diplomat, however, said there were no plans for a third party to attend the negotiations in Saudi Arabia. “So far, there is no third party that will be present at the talks,” he said.

The Afghan government has not yet officially confirmed the Saudi talks, but on Sunday, in response to questions on the plan, the foreign ministry spokesman said his government supports “any steps towards the Afghan peace process.”

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Posted by Ammar Ahmad on Jan 31 2012. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry