ISLAMABAD: Taliban on Sunday strongly rejected western media reports
and statements of officials regarding talks with US but said that only
initial accord on political office in Qatar was agreed.
In an
e-mail message to this scribe, Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid
reiterated that the perturbing reports spread by some news agencies and
western officials about negotiations have no reality.
When he
was asked as whether any political office of Taliban exists in Qatar, he
neither rejected nor accepted any such office existence in Qatar,
however said that initial agreement in this connection was reached.
The
spokesman said, “We are at the moment, besides our powerful presence
inside the country, ready to establish a political office outside the
country to come to an understanding with other nations and in this
series, we have reached an initial agreement with Qatar and other
related sides. Islamic Emirate has also asked for the release of its
prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange basis.”
He
reiterated that Islamic Emirate has also asked for the release of its
prisoners from the Guantanamo prison in exchange basis.
Mujahid
said that it is an unambiguous reality that the Islamic movement of
Taliban arose to establish an Islamic system in Afghanistan, uproot
injustice, eradicate narcotics and the local writ of gunmen, strengthen
security and to form national unity and with the help of Allah and with
the backing and sacrifices of the nation, it was able to eradicate
corruption and establish an Islamic government in various provinces and
the capital in a very short period of time.
The Emirate almost
completely eliminated the years of strife and fragmentation in the whole
country and was able to bring ninety five percent of the country under
the control of the central government, he further said.
The
spokesman said that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has always tried
to solve the problems with the opposition through talks. The ongoing
issue in the country which came about ten years ago has been between two
fundamental elements: on the one side is Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
and on the other is the United States of America and its foreign
allies, he added.
The Taliban Spokesman said that the stance of
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the beginning has been to bring
about the end of the invasion of Afghanistan and to let the Afghans
establish an Islamic government of their own choosing which does not
pose danger to anyone.
Through realization and understanding,
Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has time and again made clear its stance
to other nations and has persistently said that the allied nations under
the leadership of America will never be able to subdue the Afghans by
force in order to realize its aims, he said.
Sources said that
US and Taliban started another round of talks in Qatar last month just a
week-ago before the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan. But the talks were
on initial stage and Taliban demanded release of some prisoners as well
as initial agreement about political office somewhere around Doha was
discussed.
The negotiators from Taliban’s side are Tayyab Agha,
former head of Taliban Chief Mullah Omer’s office, Maulvi Dilawar,
Taliban’s former diplomat, and probably Mullah Abdul Aziz, a former
first secretary of the defunct regime’s embassy in the United Arab
Emirates and now a businessman in Doha. Some Sources said that Taliban
another diplomat Sohail Shaheen is part of the negotiation as a
translator.
Taliban are demanding release of some of their
fellows including Mullah Fazil Akhund, a former chief of army staff who
helped in surrendering part of Afghanistan in late 2001; Mullah Nurullah
Nuri, a former senior governor in the north, and Mullah Khairullah
Khairkhawah, a former interior minister, all detained in Guantánamo. Online
