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Taliban ready to start meaningful talks: negotiators
Two members of the Afghan Republic’s negotiating team, who are in Kabul, said on Wednesday that the Taliban is ready to start meaningful negotiations.
Habiba Sarabi, a member of the Republic’s negotiating team, said peace talks to finalize the agenda of intra-Afghan negotiations will resume once members of both teams are back in Doha, Qatar.
“When the Taliban delegation arrives in Doha, they will inform us, then we will also go to Doha to start negotiations to finalize the agenda,” said Sarabi.
“The Taliban has been preparing for meaningful talks,” said Ghulam Farooq Majrouh, another member of the Republic’s negotiating team.
Meanwhile, sources said the Taliban is ready to attend peace talks sessions following progress that has been made on the release of 7,000 Taliban prisoners.
“Peace talks in Doha were not successful; it did not have any results. All hopes are on the Turkey Conference, and it is an important conference,” said Humayoun Jarir, a member of Hizb-e-Islami.
The Afghan government has meanwhile said they will release the 7,000 Taliban prisoners if it results in a ceasefire and political settlement.
“We are ready for discussions about this; if the Taliban has an intention for a durable peace and ceasefire” said Dawa Khan Minapal, head of Government Media and Information Center (GMIC).
This comes after Afghan Republic peace talks team members and Taliban representatives met in Doha in Qatar on Friday (May 14) and discussed the need to speed up negotiations.
The talks, which started in September, have largely stalled while a US-proposed peace meeting scheduled for Turkey was also put on hold after the Taliban refused to attend.
In this time however, violence across Afghanistan has intensified.
Ten people were killed by unknown individuals in Afghanistan’s northern Baghlan province on Thursday night, police said on Friday.
The incident happened as the victims were doing Zikr at a mosque in Shahr-e-Kuhna of Nahrin district, police said in a statement.
The statement said that they used to regularly go to mosques and monasteries at night after returning from work.
Abdul Ghayoor Khadim, a provincial police official, said that several people were arrested in connection with the incident, adding that an investigation was launched.
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan Serdar Muhammetdurdiyev on Thursday met with Chinese special envoy for Afghanistan, Yue Xiaoyong, the Foreign Ministry of Turkmenistan announced.
During the meeting, the sides discussed priority vectors of strategic interstate cooperation built on a long-term, mutually beneficial basis, as well as exchanged views on the implementation of previously reached agreements.
It was noted that personal contacts between the leaders of the two countries play a key role in intensifying the interstate dialogue, which give a strong impulse to further development and expansion of Turkmen-Chinese ties.
It was emphasized that Turkmenistan considers multilateral international platforms for maintaining stability in Afghanistan as an important factor in promoting sustainable improvement of socio-economic state of the neighboring country. The sides exchanged views on the preparations to the 5th meeting of Foreign Ministers of Afghanistan's Neighboring States to be held in Turkmenistan.
The interlocutors reaffirmed that Turkmenistan and China will continue to provide all-round support for the economic restoration of Afghanistan.
The U.S. House Of Representatives has passed a legislation on evacuation of Afghans who assisted Americans during the 20-year war in Afghanistan.
“The passage of the CARE Authorization Act of 2024 further underscores the commitment made by the U.S. government to safeguard those who served shoulder-to-shoulder with our personnel during the twenty-year mission in Afghanistan,” Congresswoman Dina Titus said in a statement.
“The State Department has made it clear: There is no deadline for the crucial job of protecting Afghan allies. By authorizing the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts at the State Department, we can more effectively relocate and resettle those who have qualified to immigrate to the U.S. as a result of their service to this country.”
In 2022 the State Department established a specialized office called the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) to streamline and coordinate the ongoing relocation and resettlement process for eligible Afghans from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the United States.
The CARE Authorization Act of 2024 will formally authorize the CARE office at the State Department for three years and grant important authorities to advance its mission. These include an extension of authorities to enter into personal services contracts as well as measures to streamline the transfer of funds to and from other agencies involved in the Afghan relocation mission.
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