Taliban supreme leader Sheikh Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada has approved negotiations involving Afghan parties to the conflict, which are central to the US-Taliban agreement reached in Qatar in February as Afghan leaders would decide the future political roadmap of Afghanistan.
A Taliban official, who is privy to the movement’s internal discussions, confirmed to Daily Times on Monday that Hibatullah has asked members of the powerful leadership council or “Rehbari Shura” to share their proposals to finalize the agenda for the intra-Afghan dialogue.
No date has yet been decided for the negotiations that were scheduled to start on March 10 but Taliban refused to join the process unless the Afghan government released 5000 Taliban prisoners.
The Taliban-US agreement signed in February says up to 5,000 prisoners of the Taliban and up to 1,000 prisoners of the Afghan government will be released by March 10, the first day of the intra-Afghan dialogue.
Afghan government has released 2710 Taliban prisoners until Wednesday, Javid Faisal, spokesperson for the Office of the National Security Council, told reporters in Kabul on Sunday. He said more Taliban prisoners were also released on Sunday and Monday but he did not give details about their number.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen says Taliban released 38 more government soldiers on Friday in Farah and Nimroze provinces, taking the number of freed government’s prisoners to 458. The Taliban official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the council members are expected to finalize the agenda soon. They were confident that all conditions in the US-Taliban agreement, particularly release of the Taliban prisoners, will be implemented ahead of the talks.
Taliban sources in Qatar did not confirm Afghan media reports that the negotiations will begin in Qatar in a couple of days. “The reports are not correct,” a Taliban political source said when asked about the reports. He said US special envoy Zalamy Khalilzad has assured the Taliban political representatives in Qatar on Sunday to encourage the Afghan government to accelerate the process.
Taliban political spokesman Suhail Shaheen said head of the political office Mullah Bradar and his delegation met Khalilzad, the US top general in Afghanistan Scott Miller and their delegation in Doha on Sunday. Both sides talked about speedy release of the prisoners and commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations, Shaheen said in a Twitter post.
Dr. Mutlaq Al-Qahtani, Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar and his delegation also participated in the meeting.
Afghan government had announced a 21-member team in March to negotiate with the Taliban that will be headed by a former National Directorate of Security chief Masoom Stanekzai.
The Taliban official said several shura members have floated a suggestion to constitute a new team for the negotiations with the Afghan leaders but no final decision has yet been taken. They suggested a negotiation team of members of the ‘rehbari shura’ who will be answerable directly to Hibatullah.
Meanwhile, the US embassy in Islamabad issued a statement on Monday regarding the visit of Khalilzad to Pakistan. The statement said the US envoy in a meeting with Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday “discussed steps required for the start of intra-Afghan negotiations. The two took note of recent progress created by the Eid ceasefire and accelerated prisoner releases as well as reduced violence ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations.”
Ambassador Khalilzad expressed his appreciation for the role Prime Minister Imran Khan and General Bajwa are playing in support of peace in Afghanistan. The two agreed peace in Afghanistan offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance security, connectivity and development for the region, the statement said.
Meanwhile Afghan ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal said on Monday he had a productive meeting with Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Affairs Mohammad Sadiq in Islamabad.
“The formation of his office will help in the implementation of a follow up mechanism for bilateral relations which is a positive step forward. We discussed peace and reconciliation as well as trade & transit between Afghanistan and Pakistan,” Mashal said in a Twitter post. He said both also discussed Ghulam Khan crossing point and Mr. Sadiq gave assurance of full support and cooperation.
Pakistan has not yet completely opened Ghulam Khan crossing in North Waziristan, which is one of the major crossing points between the two countries.
Locals in the region have been demanding complete operationalization of the crossing as its closure has badly affected economic activities in North Waziristan.