Pak Army welcomes reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani military has welcomed reconciliation efforts between the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban but also warned of “detractors of peace”.
Meanwhile, Washington has denied any talks between the Obama administration and the Afghan Taliban in the coming days. A spokesman for the Afghan Taliban has also refuted reports of sitting down with the Americans, saying this was not possible till all Americans leave Afghanistan.
In the background is a report filed by a foreign news agency which quoted senior Pakistan Army and diplomatic officials as saying that the Afghan Taliban have signalled through the Pakistani military that they are willing to open peace talks. A senior Pakistani military official said Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Raheel Sharif told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani during a visit this week that the Taliban were willing to begin negotiations as early as March.
“They have expressed their willingness and there will be progress in March. But these things are not so quick and easy,” the official, who is close to the army chief and sought anonymity, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Soon after a spokesman at the ISPR did not deny the Reuters story but commented that rather the Pakistan military will support “in all sincerity the process of reconciliation in Afghanistan but the onus for such negotiations to succeed lies on the Afghan government and the Taliban.”
The ISPR in its statement added that recent news reports appearing in a section of the press about peace talks between the Afghan government and Afghan Taliban, that reconciliation between the two parties to bring lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan, always comes up during any meeting related to the country.
“Pakistan has always supported such a process, and re-emphasised it to be absolutely transparent, Afghan-owned and Afghan-led. While the onus for such negotiations to succeed lies on both the parties concerned, Pakistan in all sincerity will support the process, as peace in Afghanistan will contribute to peace in the region,” the spokesman pointed out.
But he warned that though Pakistan hopes all stakeholders will continue to act with responsibility, they should not allow detractors of peace to succeed.
In Washington, the NBC in its report said the Obama administration distanced itself from claims by two senior militants that members of the Afghan Taliban were due to hold direct talks with US officials in Qatar on Thursday.
National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said “United States currently has no meetings with the Taliban scheduled in Doha”.
She added: “We remain supportive of an Afghan-led reconciliation process whereby the Taliban and the Afghans engage in talks towards a settlement to resolve the conflict in Afghanistan.”
A senior militant commander in Qatar told NBC News that the delegation was being led by Tayyab Agha, a close aide of supreme leader Mulla Omar. He added that it also includes five former Taliban commanders freed from Guantanamo Bay in a controversial exchange for American soldier Bowe Bergdahl in May 2014.
“Finally we are going to sit with each other. The first round of our talks with US officials is being held today on Thursday,” that senior member of the Afghan Taliban said by the telephone. “We aren’t hopeful it will resolve all the differences in one day, [but] it can provide us an opportunity to study each other’s mind and pave the way for further talks.”However, an Afghan Taliban spokesman refuted any talks of coming face to face with the Americans.