KABUL - Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai on Tuesday warned the Taliban against staying out of the peace process with the government in Kabul, saying that insurgents who opt for war will face serious consequences.
The remarks by Khalil Karzai came after he returned from a four-country meeting in Islamabad to work on a roadmap for ending Afghanistan's 14-year war.
Karzai said all participants at Monday's gathering - Afghanistan, the United States, Pakistan and China wanted to bring "permanent peace" to Afghanistan. Most Taliban want peace, he told reporters, but he added that "we will use all the means we have against those who do not."
Karzai described the country's conflict as "not a war between Afghans," pointing to the involvement of "foreign elements." Officials in Kabul have long accused Pakistan of sponsoring the Taliban in cities near the Afghan border, including Quetta and Peshawar. Pakistan has denied the accusations.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Karzai said the first meeting in Islamabad on Monday had mainly been intended to set a framework for the process before a meeting in Kabul on Jan. 18 to draw up a roadmap for talks with the Taliban.
"After 30 years of war, I think they are interested and they are inclined towards joining this process," Karzai told a news conference in Kabul.
"I think there are some problems among the Taliban themselves. They do not talk with one voice but we have to be open to talk to all of them," Karzai said.
"In the next two months, the Afghan people have to see some change," he said. "The Afghan people and politicians do not have the patience they had last year."
The last round of talks began while Mansour was in effective command of the Taliban. Militants close to him have said they may consider joining but so far Rasoul's faction has ruled out participating in any process involving foreign powers.
But Karzai said time was pressing and concrete progress had to be achieved over the coming weeks, in time for the Persian New Year in March.
The Taliban were not invited to the one-day meeting. The participants agreed to meet again in Kabul on Jan. 18, also without Taliban participation. Little else is known about the meeting, attended by senior officials of the four countries. Karzai's were the first public comments.
His remarks, however, echo earlier comments by a spokesman for Afghanistan's Chief Executive, Abdullah Abdullah, who said ahead of the Islamabad talks that the Pakistani side was expected to present a list of Taliban representatives willing to negotiate with Kabul. (AP/Reuters)