Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Friday, March 29th, 2024

Pakistani Official:Taliban, Haqqani Should be Handed over to Kabul

Pakistani Official:Taliban, Haqqani Should  be Handed over to Kabul

KABUL - The chairman of Pakistan's National Assembly Standing Committee on Foreign Relations, Awais Ahmed Khan Laghari,  said that Pakistan should hand over members of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network to Kabul in an effort to help accelerate the peace process in the war-ravaged country.

"We should not have any problem in handing over the Afghan Taliban or members of Haqqani Network to Afghanistan if this helps the reconciliation process," he told reporters.

In addition, he said: "If they are in Pakistan, we must deliver them to Kabul because the objective of both countries is to bring peace [in the region]."

Meanwhile, a number of Afghan political experts have voiced their opinions over these comments.

Mir Ahmad Joyenda, a political analyst said that Laghari's comments clearly show the control of Taliban and Haqqani networks are in the hands of Pakistan.

But former Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan Rustam Shah Mohmand said he believes so far no policy of Afghanistan has been effective on Islamabad in relation to honest cooperation with Kabul.

"Those who were in Quetta, now they have left those areas and I think that Pakistan had enough impact on them."

MP from Kandahar Khalid Pashton said the first meeting with the Taliban insurgents was in 2010 in Kato city, Japan. Maldives was also host to a peace talks meeting in 2012 and yet this process still continues. It's expected that a meeting will be held in Dubai on June 6 and after that a meeting in Qatar with Taliban representatives.

"Until the government has a clear policy over the Taliban and the peace process, such a meeting will not have any benefits."

This comes after President Ghani recently issued a list of demands issued to the Pakistani government.

Ghani made a number of demands including: "An official declaration by the political leadership of Pakistan condemning the launching of the Talban offensive operation; a directive by the military leadership that sanctuary will be denied to the Taliban and effective measures by the security forces and civil authorities that the directive is carried out."

The letter further demanded "a direct(ive) to extend the counter-terror campaign to the Haqqani network and verification that those responsible for the recent terror campaign in Afghanistan are arrested."

The letter comes as both the Afghan and Pakistani governments have tried to portray their relations as improving. (Tolonews)