RUSSIA. Moscow: A one-day Russian-hosted talk was held in Moscow for the Afghan peace process on Thursday. The meeting was related to the regional efforts for bringing the twenty years of war to an end, according to Afghan officials.
During the meeting, Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergi Lavrov declared his dissatisfaction with the outcome of Doha Afghan peace discussions, saying the security situation has worsened in Afghanistan.
“Interests of all sides should be considered in an Afghan peace settlement. The process should be led by Afghans themselves. Any foreign intervention should not be allowed,” he said.
“We see that the two sides of the war have been risking the lives of civilians. Elements such as ISIS (Daesh) have been using the current situation as their leverage, ” Sergi said.
Taliban calls for an Islamic system
Mullah Baradar, Head of Taliban political office in Qatar, who also attended the meeting said, “The Islamic Emarat has features that inhibit Afghanistan from disintegration, provide security, and fights corruption and narcotics.”
“There can be no peace in Afghanistan without Islamic law and the Islamic system. If there is any system other than the Islamic system, the Afghan people will wage jihad against it. All Afghans must join hands and work for the good of the country and the people, ” Dr. Muhammad Naeem, a spokesman of the Taliban said.
Representatives of the US, China, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, and Russia had attended the meeting. The countries made a joint statement on Afghanistan, calling on war parties to reduce violence, engage in “meaningful” discussions. They also added that they do not support the restoration of an Islamic Emirate.
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Afghans delegation calls for a ceasefire
Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the Higher Council for National Reconciliation has emphasized the cease-fire to be in place and also stressed the acceleration of peace talks. He said the meeting is a pre-set-up for the Turkey peace talks.
“We demand the peace talks to speed up a permanent ceases to be announced, to end the violence and the two sides resume their discussion in a different location.
Abdullah said Afghanistan was committed to ensuring “fundamental rights of citizens, freedom of expression & women’s rights, and the principle of determining the political destiny of the country based on the will of the people and free, transparent elections”.
Transitional government
Hamid Karzai, former Afghan President, who was also in the Afghan delegation team, welcomed the US-proposed transitional government. He proposed two ways to bring peace in Afghanistan, “The Taliban integrating with the current Afghan government or creating a transitional government that provides incorporation of the Taliban within the system.”
While celebrating Afghanistan National Journalist Day in Kabul, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani addressed the achievements of the government as non-compromising gains. “The rights of Afghan women should not be compromised, that’s enough.”
The meeting was massively criticized by some Afghans for not being “inclusive”. None of the Afghan political party Jamiat were invited and only one woman was in the Afghan delegation which has been criticized.
Sima Samar, former head of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission said, “Unfortunately, the conference on the peace process in Moscow is not inclusive. Sustainable peace will not be built with half of the population in Afghanistan.”
