KABUL – As part of peace deal with Afghan Taliban, some regions andprovinces may be handed over to the Taliban, sources have revealed.
Top Afghan leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Hizb-e-Islami Chief suggested thehandover of some Afghan regions to the Taliban as “safe zones”.
Hekmatyar claimed that President Ashraf Ghani was also agreed with thisscheme however Presidential Palace says the rumors about handing a provinceto the Taliban as part of the peace offer are not true.
*Former vice president Mohammad Younus Qanooni said that a possiblehandover of some parts of the country to the Taliban means “thedisintegration of Afghanistan”. *
Such a move will indicate the success of a conspiracy that the enemies ofAfghanistan have been looking for over the years, he said at a ceremony onthe seventh death anniversary of former Kunduz police chief Abdul RahmanSayedkhaili in Parwan province.
“If a corner of this common land is handed over to someone under anyreason, it will mean the fragmentation of Afghanistan, the disintegrationof Afghanistan and the success of the conspiracy which the enemies ofAfghanistan have been looking for over the years,” said Qanooni.
At the same event, former minister of interior Mohammad Umer Daudzai saidthere are credible evidences which show efforts to extend the tenure of theNational Unity Government.
“We will not allow them (government leaders) to stay even for one day oncetheir five-year term is completed,” Daudzai said.
The Presidential Palace dismissed rumors about handing over a province tothe Taliban as part of government’s peace offer to the group.
“Remarks about handover of particular geography (to the Taliban) are nottrue,” Dawa Khan Minapal, deputy spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, toldTOLOnews.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah called for unity and safeguardof Afghanistan’s territorial integrity as he addressed the event.
“Our expectation from those who join peace is to focus on unity among thepeople of Afghanistan in their words and actions. They must think about theunity of Afghans instead of thinking about division among the people ofAfghanistan,” said Abdullah.
In another gathering in Herat province, former minister of water and energyMohammad Ismail Khan asked government leaders to step down.
“Our two brothers (President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah) shouldcome and do justice and step down and move towards a one year interimadministration,” he said.