KABUL - The Afghanistan Council for Peace Salvation (ACPS) on Wednesday said the war had been imposed on the government and an intra-Afghan dialogue was the only way to end the conflict.
Comprised of religious scholars and university teachers, the ACPS said it was striving to establish peace and stability through a third party that was not involved in the conflict, a step which had not been taken so far.
Gul Rahman Qazi, head of the council, told reporters that peace had been a prime demand of the people. He asked parties to the conflict to respond in a positive way to the nation’s genuine demand.
The peace process must be led and owned by Afghans, Qazi said they were ready to mediate between the warring parties. The people of Afghanistan had rejected violence and mutual coexistence was the only road to unity and stability, he remarked.
Musa Fariwar, a university teacher and member of the council, said the key to peace was in the hands of the Afghans and stability could be ensured only when the Afghans appeared on the scene to take charge of the reconciliation effort.
He alleged the government-controlled High Peace Council (HPC) was a project, not a reconciliation process. An amount of $830 had been invested in the council but no result had been achieved, he regretted.
A day earlier, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said that the war in Afghanistan had regional and international aspects, something that made the peace process more complicated. (Pajhwok)