HERAT - Herat’s Ulema Council – an influential council of religious scholars – held a conference on Sunday in Herat city and issued a resolution urging the government and the Taliban to announce a limited-time ceasefire.
“The conflicting sides must announce a ceasefire for a specified period of time, or make a serious and decisive decision for a dramatic reduction of violence, to allow the negotiations to occur in a relatively peaceful environment,” the resolution said.
The conference was attended by religious scholars, elders, civil society activists, university lecturers and other local figures and resulted in a three-point statement focused on intra-Afghan talks, a ceasefire and a time table for the withdrawal of foreign troops.
“With the start of such a meeting and negotiations, the foreign troops’ withdrawal time table should be announced clearly with transparency and responsibility,” the statement read, adding: “With this action, they (the foreign troops) will assure the people of Afghanistan and the international community that they “really want to end the war in Afghanistan.” The statement called for the government to consult with the Ulema and other elders in forming the delegation to represent the Afghan government in negotiations to “determine the fate of the country.”
The statement issued by the Ulema read: “We believe  the intra-Afghan talks is the demand of Afghans…. And a delegation should represent all the ethnic groups of the nation.”
It also urged the government, US and Taliban to not ignore the people in the negotiations because “reaching an agreement without representatives of the people would not be possible.”
The statement said that the religious scholars believe that the people of Afghanistan have become tired of ongoing negotiations between the US and Taliban over the past year -- as the Ulema, elders and other figures have been absent in those negotiations. (TOLO NEWS)