KABUL - The High Peace Council (HPC) on Saturday said four-party talks between Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the US and Afghanistan about the Afghan peace process were expected next week.
The peace council also said a joint gathering of Afghan and Pakistani Ulema would be held to discuss peace in Afghanistan.
Mohammad Akram Khpalwak, HPC secretary and president’s special advisor, told a joint meeting with Afghanistan Ulema Council members, that the two councils had agreed to provide conditions for intra-Afghan peace negotiations between the government and the Taliban.
He said that the Ulema’s fatwa regarding the necessity of peace and illegality of the war in Afghanistan led to the historic ceasefire in Eid.
He termed the recent ulema’s conference in Saudi Arabia as important for Afghanistan’s future.
Khpalwak said a joint meeting of Afghanistan, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and the US about peace in Afghanistan would be organized next week.
He did not provide details about the meeting and said a joint meeting between Pakistani and Afghanistan Ulema would be also held about peace in near future.
A number of Afghan Ulema on June 4 in a meeting issued a fatwa, calling the ongoing war in Afghanistan as unlawful.
About a year back, Pakistani ulema also called the conflict in Afghanistan as forbidden according to Islam.
The HPC secretary said the Afghan government welcomed efforts of ulema, civil society activists and tribal elders for peace.
He hoped the Taliban would accept the demand of Afghanistan ulema and the recent conference in Saudi Arabia and start intra-Afghan peace dialogue.
Deputy HPC head Attaur Rahman Salim said that the Afghanistan Ulema’s fatwa had been internationally accepted and the Taliban had no reason to continue the conflict.
Afghan Ulema Council head Qeyamuddin Kashaf said that Afghanistan was burning in flames of a war in which sacred places were also not safe.
“No one or place is safe in this war, whether they are worshippers, schools, funeral ceremonies, hospitals, patients, laborers, children and women,” he said.
The conflict has turned Afghanistan into the center of mass killings, a place where blood was shed everywhere and people including children and women lost their lives on a daily basis, the cleric said. (Pajhwok)