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Hugs and smiles as Taliban meet Pakistan officials
ISLAMABAD, Oct 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – A group of senior Taliban were warmly
welcomed by Pakistani officials as they arrived in Islamabad Thursday, where
the foreign minister called for a resumption of talks with the US on the war
in Afghanistan.
Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban’s co-founder who spent eight years
in a Pakistani prison, was greeted with hugs and smiles by Pakistan’s foreign
minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and spy chief Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed,
footage released by the ministry showed.
Pakistan was one of only three countries to recognise the Taliban regime,
and its shadowy military establishment — particularly the Inter-Services
Intelligence (ISI), which Hameed heads — is widely believed to back the
bloody insurgency in Afghanistan.
Islamabad denies the accusation.
Pakistan has helped facilitate talks between the Taliban and Washington in
Qatar over the past year seeking an agreement paving the way for a US troop
withdrawal from Afghanistan in return for various security promises from the
insurgents.
The two sides were on the brink of a deal — with an announcement widely
expected to be imminent — when US President Donald Trump abruptly declared
the process “dead” last month, citing Taliban violence.
– Threatened more attacks –
The Taliban threatened more attacks, but both the insurgents and the US
left the door open for negotiations to resume — with most experts agreeing
Washington will have to return to the table eventually.
Islamabad wants the talks to resume “to smooth the path for a durable,
long-lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan”, Qureshi was quoted as
saying in the statement.
“War is not a solution to any problem. Talks are the only and positive
solution to establish peace in Afghanistan,” he continued.
The visit came as Zalmay Khalilzad, who headed the US negotiating team in
Doha across the table from Baradar, also visited Islamabad this week, though
it was unclear if he was still in Pakistan Thursday.
The US Embassy in Islamabad has said only that Khalilzad was visiting
Pakistan “this week”, while the State Department did not confirm his travel
dates. The Taliban’s Doha-based spokesman, Suhail Shaheen, told AFP on
Wednesday that the simultaneous visits to Pakistan were a “coincidence”.
But when asked whether there was any possibility of the insurgents meeting
Khalilzad, he replied: “Why not? It depends on the Americans.”
The Taliban are still ready to sign the agreement which Khalilzad and
Baradar had hashed out in Doha, he said.
“We stand for it. The Americans have backtracked and they will have to
take the initiative.”
Baradar was the most high-profile Afghan Taliban leader detained by
Pakistan following the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
He was released from prison last October and appointed to head the
insurgent’s political office in a move seen as a tentative effort to aid the
talks.
The Taliban have said that the Pakistan visit is the fourth leg of a tour
that included Russia, China and Iran. A Taliban commander told AFP that
Baradar and the 11 other militants will spend four days in Pakistan.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1332 hrs