Hizb-e-Islami Afghanistan chief Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and several other influential Afghan leader arrived in Pakistan on Friday for a conference that will focus on peace process and how to bridge trust gap between the two countries.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai and presidential candidate Haneef Atamr, who were also invited to the conference to be held in Bhurban on Saturday (today), have welcomed the conference. Karzai said he is unable to attend the conference but hoped Pakistan will continue its efforts for bringing peace in Afghanistan.
Haneef Atmar’s office in Kabul also welcomed the conference and said a high-level delegation of Atmar’s election team has gone to Pakistan to attend the event. “We support the Pakistan-hosted meeting for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan. We welcome Pakistan’s sincere efforts for peace and hope that Pakistan will continue these efforts which could lead to intra-Afghan dialogue,” a statement from Atmar’s office said.
In another development, US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Qatar on Friday for a new round of negotiations with the Taliban political representatives, sources in Qatar told Daily Times. Both sides are scheduled to begin the seventh round on June 25, however a source said the talks can begin even earlier.
The Taliban and the US are confident to finalize what they had discussed in the last round in May. However, the recent tweets by the Taliban political spokesman that the US has agreed on complete withdrawal of the troops were disputed by Khalilzad, who said the US seeks a comprehensive peace agreement, not a withdrawal agreement. “A comprehensive peace agreement is made up of four inter-connected parts: counter-terrorism assurances, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan negotiations that lead to a political settlement; and a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire. This is a framework which the Taliban should accept,” Khalilzad tweeted on June 18.
Taliban, however, insist they are discussing two issues – withdrawal and to prevent Afghanistan from being used for terrorism in the future.
Meanwhile Afghan sources told Daily Times that the prominent leaders who arrived in Islamabad for the Bhurban conference include chief of High Peace Council Mohammad Karim Khalili, Jamiat-e-Islami leader Ustad Atta Mohammad Noor, Wali Masood, brother of Ahmad Shah Masood, Hizb-e-Wahdat leader Mohammad Mohaqiq, former MP Fauzia Kofi and Pir Hamid Gailani. Representatives of Uzbek leader General Abdul Rashid Dostam are also part of the delegation.
Senior Afghan political leaders have been invited to a peace conference at the Pakistani scenic town of Bhurban at the weekend ahead of President Ashraf Ghani’s visit to Islamabad. The Lahore Center for Peace and Research (LCPR) and the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute (SASSI) are organising the event.
Officials say Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will also speak at the meeting while President Arif Alvi will host a dinner for the senior Afghan political leaders.
The conference has assumed importance in view of the growing activities to press for political solution to the Afghan conflict. The Bhurban conference will provide opportunity for the Afghan leaders and Pakistani experts to exchange views on peace process.