Afghan Taliban conditional dialogue offer to USA
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ISLAMABAD: Taliban have demanded official recognition for their political office in Qatar, direct talks with the United States and removal of senior members from a UN blacklist, describing these as preliminary steps to peacefully ending their insurgency.
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A Qatar-based Taliban spokesman, Sohail Shaheen, has asserted the presence of US-led foreign troops in Afghanistan is the “root cause” of war and its continuation. The “foreign occupation forces” are undermining the country’s sovereignty and freedom of its politics as well as the government, he added.
“That is why there is need for America and its allies to come to the table for direct talks with the Islamic Emirate (the Taliban) for negotiating an end to the occupation,” Shaheen said. If peace is the objective of the other side, he asserted, then the Taliban must be allowed to open their “political office” in Qatar and names of their senior members be removed from the UN blacklist.
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“These obstacles in the way of establishing peace cannot be simply ignored,” Shaheen said, warning that “mere slogans and statements” (by the other side) would further complicate the issue rather than promoting Afghan peace.
