KANDAHAR: Afghan officials are holding talks with the Taliban in Pakistan, the head of a provincial peace council in the insurgency’s heartland Kandahar said on Tuesday, in a possible signal that Islamabad is boosting its support for Afghan peace efforts.
Kandahar peace council’s chairman Ata Mohammad Ahmadi said the officials had been meeting for “some time” with mid-level Taliban commanders in Quetta, where the leadership of the militant group is reported to be based.
“In the last 10 days, our peace council delegation has gone to Quetta three times in twos and threes,” he said.
The Afghan government has repeatedly urged Pakistan to support its efforts to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table.
Ties between the two countries were strained for months after the assassination in September of Afghan peace envoy and former president Burhanuddin Rabbani.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said: “While emphasising the importance of Pakistan’s support for the peace process, I hereby request our brotherly government of Pakistan to support and facilitate our direct negotiation efforts as part of the peace process.”
The Afghan president’s new appeal comes after an acrimonious visit to Pakistan last week during which he asked the Pakistani government to help bring Taliban leaders to the negotiating table. Pakistani officials called it “preposterous” to suggest that they would be able to do so.
Since that visit, Mr Karzai has discussed the issue in phone calls with both US President Barack Obama and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani.
Mr Gilani’s office said he had assured Mr Karzai in their call on Tuesday that Pakistan “would wholeheartedly support a peace process in Afghanistan which is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led”.
But Mr Karzai’s statement suggested that he was still pushing for a more concrete commitment from Pakistan to help get negotiations going. He once again invited the Taliban to take part in direct talks with the Afghan government and stressed the need for Pakistan to “support and facilitate our direct negotiation”.
“Pakistan’s support to the peace process will be crucial to its success, as well as a significant contribution to the security and stability of Afghanistan and the entire region,” Mr Karzai said in the statement.
Though Mr Karzai did not give details on what sort of facilitation he was expecting, Afghan officials have previously asked for Islamabad to promise safe passage for Taliban representatives going to meeting sites outside of Pakistan.
They also want access to certain Taliban prisoners in Pakistani jails.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said after a recent trip to Kabul that a lot of the ill will between the neighbours had faded. She said Islamabad would encourage Afghan militant groups to pursue peace if asked by Kabul.
“We are very optimistic about President Karzai’s recent trip to Pakistan and that may have opened the door,” said Arsala Rahmani, a senior member of Afghanistan’s High Peace Council tasked with reaching out to insurgents.
Afghanistan is known to want access to Taliban leaders belonging to the so-called Quetta Shura.—Agencies
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