Behind a closed door in the Qatari capital Doha, the government peace delegation and Taliban representatives are trying to reach an agreement to create three working teams, each tasked to follow a peace agenda, a source who is in Doha tells Kabul Now.
The three working teams will be tasked to work on “the constitution [amendment], confidence building, and a political roadmap,” according to the source.
Release of the Taliban prisoners and removal of top Taliban leaders from the UN sanction is part of confidence-building measure while establishing a transitional government will be discussed under the topic of political roadmap.
“[The negotiators] are trying to set a new, clear, and effective agenda that may require creating parallel negotiating teams,” the source added.
As the source detailed, the negotiating sides, each with seven members, have so far concluded two meetings behind closed doors. The third meeting is set to be held this afternoon, July 18.
Abdullah Abdullah, Karim Khalili, Ata Mohammad Noor, Masoom Stanekzai, Fatima Gilani, Batur Dostum, and Abdul Salam Rahim are representing the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in the talks. Abdul Ghani Baradar, Shahabuddin Delawar, Abdul Salam Hanafi, Mullah Din Mohammad, Mawlana Farid, Mullah Fazel, and Shaikh Abdul Hakim Haqqani are members of the Taliban negotiating team.
Mutlaq bin Majed Al Qahtani, Special Envoy of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution, is acting as a mediator and facilitator at this meeting though the Taliban representatives appear feeling uncomfortable with his presence, the source told Kabul Now.
The intra-Afghan talks resumed at a higher level between the Taliban and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan yesterday, July 17, after months-long delay, in Doha, Qatari capital.
Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, Abdullah Abdullah, is leading the Republic’s negotiators while Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Taliban’s deputy leader, leads the Taliban negotiating team at the newly started rounds of talks in Doha.
The Doha talks on the future of Afghanistan resumes amid a growing Taliban military campaign. The insurgents are fighting to gain more territory since May 01, the beginning of US withdrawal from the country.
