misconstrued as peace or negotiation talks”. The delegation was made up, however, of people like Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, a former top Taliban official and a fluent English speaker who often met with foreign visitors during the Taliban regime, and Sohail Shaheen, the spokesman for the Taliban’s Qatar office, one of the Taliban leaders whose names were removed in 2010 from a United Nations sanctions list as an early step toward confidence-building in the peace process.
Stanikzai was heading the Taliban delegation, the militants said, while stressing that all the eight men were there privately and individually.Most of the other Taliban representatives are still on the United Nations sanctions list, including Stanikzai.
The location of the talks was also significant, as the Qataris have expressed an interest in acting as intermediaries in the Afghan peace talks and last year hosted an aborted effort for the Taliban to open an office in Qatar as a place to hold talks.
On the Afghan governmentside, local news accounts also said that representatives attending included an array of individuals, among them former members of the Taliban who have reconciled with the Afghan government; Tajik, Pashtun and Uzbek leaders; and the High Peace Council’s secretary general, Masoom Stanikzai (no relation to the Taliban delegation head).
It was unclear if there would be any official announcement from the Afghan government during or after the talks, which are expected to conclude after a second day on Monday. But the Taliban’s news release added that “a statement for participation in the conference has also been prepared which will be shared with our respected readers at an appropriate time.”“This is an opportunity,” Qasimyar said. “They get together, they may have a chance to have tea or dinner or lunch at the same table, and that’s all right.”
NNI adds from Islamabad: Pakistan backed the Afghan Taliban talks with the Afghan govt representatives in Qatar.Foreign Secretary Aizaz Chaudhry also urged the Taliban to stop its spring offensive and directly talk to the Kabul government.
Aizaz told reporters in Islamabad that Pakistan welcomes the talks in Qatar, though unofficial, but it wants the Taliban to pursue its objectives through peaceful means.“Our message is very clear that they (Taliban) have to talk. If they talk and are able to contribute to peace in Afghanistan, that is the best thing that can happen to us and the whole region,” he said.
He said that Pakistan is determined to improve relations with Afghanistan and is “quietly making dedicated efforts” to push the peace process between Kabul and the Taliban.The foreign secretary refused to discuss further details of what he described as a “highly sensitive” matter.