Summary The Afghan government has welcomed Hezb-e-Islami's decision.
Dunya News Report (Madiha Fareed)
The recently renewed Afghan Peace Process has apparently achieved a breakthrough as the second largest insurgent group in Afghanistan has accepted the invitation of Ashraf Ghani and agreed to join the direct peace talks with Afghan government.
The announcement was made through Hezb-e-Islami official webpage Shahadat on Sunday. It said “Although the Americans have not yet ended their war in Afghanistan and many of the officials in Kabul government see the peace process as a threat to their powers and privileges, but we are ready to take part in these talks, just to prove to our nation that Hizb-e-Islami wants peace”.
The freshly started Afghan peace process suffered a major setback, when Taliban’s largest group “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” headed by Mullah Akhtar Mansour had refused to take part in direct peace talks with the government saying that “Unless the occupation is ended, black lists eliminated and innocent prisoners freed, such futile misleading negotiations will not bear any result”
Hezb-e-Islami is headed by Gulbaden Hekmatyar who served as the prime Minister of Afghanistan between 1993 and 1996 and has a huge number of followers all across Afghanistan.
Afghan government has welcomed the decision and expressed hope that the talks would bear meaningful results.
Previously Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani had urged Taliban factions, Hezb-i-Islmai in Particular, to join the talks and ifmedia reports were to be believe, contacts have been made between Hezb-e-Islami (Gulbuddin) and the Afghan government.
The Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG), after holding several rounds of talks, had announced on February 23 that the direct talks between Afghan government and Taliban will take place in the first week of March and will be hosted by Islamabad. The QCG invited all Taliban factions to join the talks without any preconditions attached from both sides.
Taliban’s refusal had jeopardized the fate of recently renewed peace process; however it seems that the diplomatic efforts have borne fruit as at least one major faction to come to the negotiating table.
Last week, Pakistan’s Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees Zakaria had announced that “efforts were on” to convince Taliban to join the talks.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani called on Taliban militant groups to choose between war and peace, insisting that the group is facing a major test to choose between the country, nation and militancy.
The other two members of the QCG United States and China also encouraged Taliban to give peace a chance.
The United States Department of State spokesperson John Kirby stated that "They (Taliban) have a choice, 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."
China’s Foreign Office’s spokesperson also expressed hope that the Afghan government and Taliban as well as concerned parties will work together for the resumption of Afghan peace talks at an early date.
The hiccups are bound to happen in the recently renewed peace process but what’s needed is a firm resolve to take the process forward toward a meaningful solution. The formation of QCG had reignited the hopes of bringing the stalled Afghan Peace Process back on track and has brightened the prospects of a political settlement in the war-torn country. It is imperative that the crazy bloodshed in Afghanistan be brought to an end and both parties realize the fierce urgency of the matter so that the citizens can exercise their fundamental right to live a safe and healthy life.
