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Govt’s Negotiating Team Members: ‘We Are Not Aware of the Selection’
Some members of the government’s negotiating team for peace talks with the Taliban say they are not aware of their selection, insisting that the President’s Office has not consulted them in this regard yet.
It has been a week since the list of government’s 12-member negotiating team has been shared with the people.
The team includes: Ghani’s chief of staff Abdul Salam Rahimi, Mohammad Mirwais Balkhi, Minister of Education, Hasina Safi, Minister of Information and Culture, Abdul Tawab Balakarzai, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Alema, Deputy Minister of Refugees and Repatriation, General Ebadullah Ebad, Deputy of National Directorate of Security, Shahgul Rezaee, Member of Wolesi Jirga, Attaullah Ludin, Member of Ulema Council, Shamim Katawazai, governor of Paktia province, Abdullah Attai, Member of Supreme Court, Tooryali Ghiasi, Director of Cultural Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Abdul Hakim Muneeb, Deputy Minister of Haj and Religious Affairs
However, some members of the formulated team expressed “unawareness” regarding the issue.
“We have been included in the team, but we are not even aware of our selection so far,” said Abdul Munib who is also the head of Islamic Revolution Movement of Afghanistan. “We have not been consulted in this regard.”
The negotiating team was announced by President Ashraf Ghani on the second day of the two-day Geneva Conference where he also revealed the formation of a new advisory board.
The board is comprised of nine committees including Political Leaders Committee, Political Parties Committee, Youth Affairs Committee, Women’s Affairs Committee, Ulema Committee, Provincial Leaders Committee, Civil Society and Cultural Committee and Private Sector Committee and Refugees and Diaspora Committee.
However, some political parties said that the negotiating team should have been comprised of representatives from political parties, civil society, and tribal elders.
“Over the last 17 years, they [the Taliban] refuse to negotiate with the government. The team which has been introduced should have had representatives of political parties, civil society, and tribal elders,” said Abdul Satar Murad, a member of Jamiat-e-Islami party.
This comes as the Taliban has rejected the government’s negotiating team and insisted on having direct talks with the United States.
Officials at the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development (MRRD) say 7,000 incomplete projects of the World Bank are at risk of destruction in Afghanistan. They call on the World Bank to resume the work of these projects.
According to them, discussions have been held with the World Bank about these projects, but there has been no result yet.
“7,000 incomplete projects are being destroyed, and if the work is not started, these projects will be destroyed. We ask the World Bank to resume the work of these projects as soon as possible,” said Noorul Hadi Adel, the spokesperson of MRRD.
Meanwhile, members of the private sector also ask international institutions to resume their work in Afghanistan.
According to the officials of this sector, with the start of these projects, job opportunities will be provided for thousands of people in the country.
“These projects create employment for our people and the country will grow a lot,” said Mirwais Hajizadeh, a member of the private sector.
However, economic experts stated if the work of these projects does not start soon, they will be destroyed and the investments made in them will be wasted.
Ten people have been killed and six others injured by floods in Helmand province in the past week, local officials said on Friday.
According to officials, seven of those were members of the same family, and they were killed in Kajaki district last night.
“Most of the people moved from vulnerable areas to high lands and mountains, and thanks Allah the number of casualties is low,” Sher Mohammad Vahdat, the head of information of the Directorate of Information and Culture in Helmand, said adding rescue teams and security forces have been dispatched to help people.
It is said that the telecommunication system has also been disrupted due to the effect of floods in Kajaki district. Floods have also destroyed thousands of acres of agricultural land.
Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, met with the Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi and discussed issues related to Afghanistan, it was announced on Thursday.
During the meeting, Otunbayeva thanked India for “its critical humanitarian support and longstanding friendship for the Afghan people” and discussed the importance of regional and international cooperation to address prevailing challenges in Afghanistan, UNAMA said on X.
Jaishankar also said on X that the sides exchanged views on the current situation in Afghanistan.
“Underlined that India has provided wheat, medicines, pesticides and school supplies. Appreciate the role of UN agencies as partners in these endeavors,” he said.
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