Afghanistan Times
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AT Monitoring Desk-KABUL: The High Peace Council (HPC) said that peace parleys between representatives of the government and the Taliban in Norway are different from previous informal peace talks.
According to sources, representatives of the government and the Taliban attended an international conference in Oslo, the capital city of Norway, on Tuesday. However, Oslo has said that there are no plans for formal talks between the two sides.
Muhammad Esmail Qasimyar, a senior member of the HPC, said that Oslo talks were different from the previous informal talks with the Taliban. He hoped that these talks will pave the ground for formal Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace talks.
He said that even structure of the delegation that represents the Afghan government in the talks is different from the previous ones, as participants of these talks are mostly people in authority. “This is a good opportunity created for both sides to discuss important issues and pave the ground for formal talks,” Radio Azadi quoted Qasimyar as saying.
According to reports, a the delegation of the Afghan government in the talks is being led by the Second Deputy of the Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan, Muhammad Muhaqiq, and is comprised of former Vice President Muhammad Yunus Qanuni, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, Husun Banu Ghazanfar and Deputy Secretary of the HPC.
Sayed Fazel Akbar Agha, a former Taliban commander, said that structure of the Taliban delegation in the conference is also different. “I am hopeful that the talks will yield in positive results, for those who are representing the Taliban in the talks were not involved in previous informal peace negotiations, for example Sayed Tayeb Agha,” he added.
