The Afghan government has finalized a 21-member team who are to negotiate with the Taliban in talks aimed at ending Afghanistan’s 18-year-old conflict, officials said on Friday.
The move is a crucial step in bringing the warring parties to the table and getting a US-led peace process back on track.
Under a deal signed by the US and the Taliban last month, the insurgents agreed to commit to starting talks with the Afghan government and discuss a possible ceasefire. Up until now, the Taliban has refused to meet with the administration of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
In return for starting talks and other commitments, the US and foreign partner forces are to withdraw from Afghanistan over the next 14 months.
The negotiating team was supposed to be unveiled weeks ago, with the “intra-Afghan” talks with the Taliban meant to get under way on March 10 in Oslo.
However, Kabul has been gripped by a fresh political crisis, with Ghani’s legitimacy being challenged by his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who has also proclaimed himself president.
The US, which has slashed aid to the Afghan government over its failure to end infighting, hailed the progress in naming an “inclusive” negotiating team, which includes five women.
The delegation “reflects the true tapestry of the nation and the instrumental role of women,” head US negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad wrote on Twitter.
“This consensus is a meaningful step that moves the parties significantly closer to intra-Afghan negotiations,” Khalilzad wrote.
The negotiating team is to be led by former Afghan intelligence head Masoom Stanekzai, who as a Pashtun shares a tribal identity with the Taliban.
In a statement, the Afghan Ministry for Peace said that Ghani “wishes the delegation success and calls on them to consider, at all stages of negotiations, the best interest of the country, the shared values of the Afghan people, and the principle stand of the country for a united Afghanistan.”
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