Peace process

The Taliban have come one step closer to setting up an office in Doha, Qatar, according to Taliban spokesperson Sabiullah Mujahid. It will be used for carrying out peace negotiations.

According to French news agency AFP, the Taliban has issued a statement listing demands, including the release of Taliban prisoners held in Guantanamo Bay as well as an end to the foreign occupation in Afghanistan.

Though a date has not yet been set, the EU and the US see the office as a prerequisite to peace talks with the insurgents. The US and Qatar, helped by Germany, had engaged in negotiations with the Taliban over setting up an office in Doha, keeping President Hamid Karzai's administration in the dark. Kabul reacted angrily last week and recalled its ambassador from Doha.

Kabul's demands

While opening the Taliban office in Doha is being seen - both by the West and by Kabul - as a way of creating distance from Pakistan, Afghan officials have been quoted by Reuters as saying that the government would have preferred Saudi Arabia or Turkey, being close to both governments.

Last week, the Afghan High Peace Council sent an 11-point note to foreign missions, expressing willingness to cooperate and accept a Taliban office in Qatar to help the peace talks, but that no foreign power can get involved in the process without the consent of the Afghan government.

Kabul last week also stipulated that the Taliban would have to stop violence against civilians, cut its ties with the al Qaeda and accept the Afghan constitution, which guarantees civil rights and liberties including rights for women.

Author: Sarah Berning (Reuters, dpa, AFP)
Editor: Manasi Gopalakrishnan