President Ashraf Ghani is being pushed to the sidelines as the Afghan Taliban ignore his overtures for peace and negotiate instead with his friends, and enemies, over the future of Afghanistan.
From Doha to Moscow, the insurgents are meeting an array of envoys with competing interests in Afghanistan, from the United States eager to withdraw its troops to politicians in Kabul jostling for power.
Experts say regional powers — including US foes Iran and Russia — are angling for an audience with the Afghan Taliban, who are already outlining their vision for Islamic rule once foreign troops leave.
The elephant in the room is Ghani, whose US-backed administration has not been invited to the table despite a failed year-long effort to spark a dialogue with the Afghan Taliban.
“The sad irony is that Afghanistan's government is in danger of getting written out of the script of its own peace process,” analyst Michael Kugelman of the Wilson Center in Washington told AFP.
Ghani's allies in Washington insist Afghans should lead the peace process, and ostensibly the months-long push by the US to engage the Afghan Taliban has been aimed at convincing them to negotiate with Kabul. Those efforts culminated in an unprecedented six days of talks between the US and the Afghan Taliban in Doha in January.
The marathon negotiations ended with both sides touting “progress” — spurring Afghan fears the US could cut a deal with the militants to withdraw its forces before a lasting peace with Kabul is reached.
“It's a major snub because without the Americans, the government in Kabul cannot survive,” said Gilles Dorronsoro, a French researcher specialising in Afghanistan.
Then the Afghan Taliban agreed a week later to a separate, almost unheard of sit-down in Russia with some of Ghani's biggest rivals.
The two-day talks, which started on Tuesday, saw the Taliban lead prayers with political heavyweights, some sworn enemies, and listen as Afghan women defended their rights.
The Afghan Taliban promised an “inclusive Islamic system” and opened the door for allowing women greater freedoms, but also demanded a new, Islam-based constitution.
'Begging' terrorists
Frozen out for a second time, a furious Ghani vowed he would not be an idle spectator as his country's future was debated abroad.
The meeting in Russia was “nothing more than a fantasy. No one can decide without the consent of the Afghan people,” Ghani told Afghan broadcaster TOLOnews.
“Those who have gathered in Moscow have no executive authority. They can say what they want.”
He later said on Twitter that he had spoken to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who had “underscored the central importance of ensuring the centrality of the Afghan government in the peace process”.
“We both agreed that words, rumours, and speculations cannot replace actions and that our partnership and resolve will remain strong in the pursuit of peace,” Ghani wrote.
A top US general later said that Kabul must be involved in talks if a push for a peace deal is to be successful.
“Ultimately, we need to get to a Taliban-Afghanistan discussion,” General Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, told US lawmakers on Tuesday. “Only they will be able to resolve the key issues involved in the dispute.”
The frustration and sense of betrayal in Kabul was palpable. Amrullah Saleh, a Ghani ally, accused the Afghan leaders in Moscow — including former president Hamid Karzai — of “begging... terrorists”.
“A smile to the enemy is a blow to the national spirit,” Saleh said.
The Afghan Taliban, who brutally ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, have so far refused to engage with the Kabul government, who they view as US stooges.
Instead, the insurgents are marching ahead with their diplomatic agenda.
This has presented an opportunity for Ghani's rivals to undermine his leadership ahead of presidential elections slated for July, analysts say.
Atta Muhammad Noor, an influential former warlord present in Moscow who is backing a Ghani contender in the polls, has called for the formation of an interim government to include the Afghan Taliban.
'A new war'
The Afghan Taliban outreach is also drawing a host of rival powers into its orbit, all keen to ensure that any finale to the war suits their strategic ambitions.
Many of these present “a fundamental clash of vision and interests” for Afghanistan, said Davood Moradian, director of the Kabul-based Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies.
The US, Afghanistan and India seek a stable democracy and a bulwark against terrorism, he said, while the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan, conversely, seek an Islamic government in Kabul.
A broader second group of “legitimate stakeholders and opportunistic spoilers” — including regional powers like Russia, China and Iran — have their eyes on waning US influence in the region, Moradian added.
The Moscow talks were officially hosted by an Afghan diaspora group but Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the conference as “useful” to finding peace.
Dorronsoro said the US-Taliban talks, which continue later this month, were an “acknowledgement of defeat” by Washington of its military campaign that would not be missed by rivals Russia and Iran, who have also engaged with the insurgents.
The departure of US forces — if achieved under a deal with the Afghan Taliban — could draw the region into a “new war” for dominance in Afghanistan.
“India, Pakistan, Iran... everyone will choose sides. Today, nothing is clear. Everyone is in the process of positioning themselves,” Dorronsoro said.
Comments (14) Closed
Turn out the lights on your way out...
Gordon D. Walker
Canada
The match isn't over yet. Yet some are assuming winners and losers.
Look like the war started against Russia will come to an end but no sign of peace. We had already seen Taliban won war once but could not bring peace in Afganistan that resulted in intervention by foreign super power. Let's hope a lot of lessons has been learnt from previous coming into power. This time no safe.havens for any International out law. No 16 century rules for men and women. Efforts for the prosperity and well being of Afgan citizens. Taliban are known for their honesty and bravery. Don't see any problem in corruption in ruling people. All factions must get United or otherwise divide Afganistan that will bring peace there.
Ghani uttered lot of venom against Pakistan on behest of India. Now he will face the music
He should beg India for help
What do you mean by Taliban -Afghan dialogue?Taliban are Afghans and they have convincingly proved it
A narrative is being floated to tag Taliban as outsiders.They are natives and represent more than 65% population of Afghanistan
so, the US puppet Afghani president is unceremoniously dumped from the negotiating table in Russia, de facto confirming that the government does not count, i.e., have any real power, without the US presence.
@Rasheed, agree.
USA knows very well that Ghani's government is corrupt like Nawaz Shreeif.
the Indian ambassador to Kabul Ashraf Ghani is angry.
Reality is taliban control 70 percent and US back corrupt puppet 30 percent. Taliban must have Afghans supporters to hold this much territory despite westerners non stop ruthless bombing and genocite and not serious about peace at all. In western democracy majority rules and minorities rights and looks like Russia is just doing that. And westerners just doing the opposite. Pakistan should help Russia’s effort since American minds are full of Indian propaganda against Pakistan. It will help remove anti Pakistan corrupt afghan criminal government and bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan.
Where is India?
it means Russia still have more influence in Afg as compared to US and allies