KABUL: Women will be included for the first time ever in the Talibandelegation to peace talks in Qatar this month, the movement’s mainspokesman said on Monday, ahead of the latest round of meetings aimed atending the war in Afghanistan.
For a group notorious for its strictly conservative attitude to women’srights, the move represents a step towards addressing demands that women beincluded in the talks, intended to lay the foundations for a future peacesettlement.
The April 19-21 meeting in Doha will be the latest in a series of talksbetween Taliban and U.S. officials and is also expected to include a150-strong delegation of Afghan politicians and civil society figures.
“There will be women among Taliban delegation members in the Doha, Qatarmeeting,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s main spokesman, said bytelephone.
He did not name the women, but added, “These women have no familyrelationship with the senior members of the Taliban, they are normalAfghans, from inside and outside the country, who have been supporters andpart of the struggle of the Islamic Emirate”.
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In a tweet, he specified that the women would only join discussions withAfghan civil society and political representatives, not in the mainnegotiations with American officials, led by U.S. special peace envoyZalmay Khalilzad.
The Taliban have maintained their rejection of formal talks with the Afghangovernment, which they dismiss as a “puppet” regime controlled by theUnited States.
