KABUL (TCA) — The United States on March 7 appealed to the Taliban to join peace talks to prevent another upsurge in fighting in Afghanistan this spring, RFE/RL reported on March 8.
The Taliban said on March 5 that it would not take part in peace talks with the Afghan government, citing its longstanding demand that all foreign troops must first leave Afghanistan.
Afghan officials on March 7 downplayed the rejection as a “tactical” move by the Taliban, and said they still hope to resume talks.
“They have a choice,” said U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby. “Rather than continuing to fight their fellow Afghans and destabilizing their country, they should engage in a peace process and ultimately become a legitimate part of the political system of a sovereign, united Afghanistan.”
“There is and should be a sense of urgency around getting these talks up and running,” Kirby said. “If there’s no peace process in place…we would and the Afghan security forces would have to prepare themselves for the potential for increased violence in the spring and summer months.”
The fourth meeting of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG) between Afghanistan, Pakistan, the United States and China on the Afghan peace and reconciliation process, held in Kabul on February 23, decided that direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban would be held in early March in Pakistan.
The QCG member states invited all Taliban and other groups to participate through their authorized representatives in the first round of direct peace talks with the Afghan government.
A spokesman for the Taliban group’s political office in Qatar, Mohammad Naim, earlier told Radio Free Europe (RFE) that they have not changed their preconditions for joining the peace process. The preconditions of the Taliban include complete withdrawal of the foreign forces from Afghanistan, official recognition of Taliban’s political office in Qatar, removal of Taliban from United Nations terrorist blacklist, halt to the arrest and elimination of Taiban, and release of the Taliban inmates from prisons.
