Get elected to get power, Ghani to Taliban

KABUL: Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday suggested that the Taliban could seek power only through elections.

The Taliban, who have held several rounds of talks with the United States, have so far refused to engage with the Afghan government, saying it is a "puppet" regime. Ghani reiterated that he is elected directly by the people of Afghanistan

Meanwhile, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said previously unscheduled peace talks between the Taliban and the United States in Pakistan risk engulfing the country in regional rivalries.

In an interview with foreign media, Karzai worried that the accelerated peace process was being hijacked by competing territorial interests in Afghanistan, even as the country’s neighbours and other states jockey for influence after US troops are gone.

“We don’t want the peace process to become hostage to competing powers for influence in Afghanistan or over the process,” said Karzai. “No. We have suffered because of that and we don’t want that.”