KABUL - The Taliban on Friday said a possible peace accord in Afghanistan could not be fully implemented in the absence of an international guarantee from the UN, world’s powers, the Organization of Islamic Countries and other facilitating nations.
Abbas Stanikzai, who led a Taliban delegation from the movement’s political office in Qatar at peace talks hosted by Russia on Friday, told the event participants in Moscow that foreign invasions were basic reason behind the Afghanistan’s 40-year-old conflict.
The talks in Moscow were attended by Afghan politicians, a delegation of the High Peace Council and representatives from a dozen countries, including the US, Pakistan, Iran and Uzbekistan.
The Taliban delegation head said the Afghans had historically resorted to their legitimate defense against foreign invasions and today they were doing the same, accusing the United States of invading Afghanistan under false pretexts.
Stanikzai said the US overthrew an established system of governance in Afghanistan and turned a peaceful country into a dangerous place.
Calling peace primary need of a society, Stanikzai said without peace the Afghans could not prosper politically, socially, culturally and economically.
He said peace would not come with mere slogans as witnessed in the one and half a decades, saying peace needed a strong determination and overt acts. Stanikzai said when a nation was derived of their independence, they would plunge into chaos.
He said the war in Afghanistan had been imposed on the Taliban and the people of the country. Until foreign forces exist in Afghanistan, an independent government cannot be established, he believed, calling for removal of factors that are prolonging the war.
Stanikzai said before peace talks could take peace, some measures had to be taken first because these steps were necessary for trust building and peace.
He said the peace process and blacklisting were two conflicting things and could not go together. He said the Taliban representatives should be removed from the UN and US blacklist in order they could attend peace related talks anywhere. He said it was not fair when one side was restricted and the other given full freedom.
He said the US and its backed government in Kabul had imprisoned thousands of innocent Afghans and Taliban in overt and covert detention centers, which he called an anti-peace act and demanded their release.
He said the Taliban needed an office in Afghanistan to issue peace related statements and formally answer to people’s questions, remove the concerns of the masses and the international community.
Demanding an end to what he said poisonous propaganda against the Taliban, Stanikzai said the withdrawal of foreign forces would pave the peace for peace in Afghanistan.
He said the peace process needed an international guarantee to be fully implemented. He said the United Nations, world powers, the OIC and other facilitating countries should provide guarantee for implementation of such an arrangement.
Stanikzai said the Afghanistan’s current Constitution was not ‘reliable’ as it was copied from the West and imposed on the Afghans. He said the Taliban wanted a Constitution to be based on Islamic principles and which protected national interests, historic prides, social justice, national values and human rights.
He said another reason behind the continuation of the war in Afghanistan was choosing the path of war instead of peace by the US.
About women’s rights, he said the Taliban considered women as builders of a Muslim society and they were committed to women’s rights as enshrined in Islam.
He said Islam gave women all basic rights from doing business to inheriting property, getting education, work, peace, healthcare and good life. (Pajhwok)