Afghan government and Taliban begin peace talks in Qatar

Qatar is the scene of the beginning of the dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban rebels in order to finally establish the necessary and much-demanded peace in the Asian country. 

Thus, these negotiations between the Taliban and Kabul began this Saturday in Doha with the participation of the Afghan chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, and important Taliban leaders.

"We have come to this country to achieve a dignified and lasting peace", said Abdullah Abdullah from Qatari territory at the opening of the dialogue, who assured that the history of Afghanistan will remember this moment as "the end of the suffering of our people".

The head of government defended the fact that the end of the war through a political agreement is a "legitimate" demand of the Afghans and pointed out that the citizens have "suffered enough".

Abdullah added that there is no winner in the current conflict and therefore called for the establishment of an "Islamic, constitutional and inclusive" system that preserves the rights of all Afghans, including men, women, children and victims of the war. "A lasting peace can pave the way for the return of millions of refugees", he said in reference to those who have fled the conflict in recent decades, mostly to neighbouring Pakistan (2.4 million) and Iran (up to 3 million).

For his part, the top Taliban representative, Abdul Ghani Baradar, called for priority to be given to providing "benefits to all" and for the peace dialogue to progress with "great patience and attention". "We will continue the Afghan peace negotiations with total honesty," he said. He also called for an "independent, united and developed" Afghanistan, with an Islamic system that involves all citizens. 

On the subject, the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani, recalled how history has shown that the use of "military force" does not work in Afghanistan and called for an "immediate" ceasefire. He also pointed out that the scale of the "challenges" is known to all, and therefore called on the international community to help negotiations prosper and achieve the Afghans' aspirations for "security, stability and peace".

This state of affairs has been reached after the United States and the insurgents agreed in February to begin talks based on certain agreements such as the withdrawal of American troops from Afghan territory and the reduction of violence in the country, with the ultimate aim of bringing about the hoped-for negotiation between the Taliban and the Kabul government. 

After 19 years, since the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan, which was triggered by the US persecution of those responsible for the 11 September attacks, almost coinciding with that date, talks began between the opposing sides to explore ways of establishing national peace. It was precisely on 11 September that the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue in the Gulf country was officially announced. 

The long-awaited scene of the meeting between the Afghan government and the Taliban, who have been resisting talks with the Asian country's executive for all these years, has thus arrived. 

The ultimate aim is to achieve a ceasefire as the first step towards establishing peace. In this connection, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, present at what he described as a "historic day", stated that the Afghan government and the Taliban have a new opportunity to "sit down together" and stressed that the whole world is watching them.

"We have done an enormous amount of work and sacrifices to reach this moment and it will require an enormous amount of work and sacrifices to keep it alive," he said before the start of the Pompeo dialogue, who was present at the signing of the pact between the United States and the Taliban last February, also in Doha.

"Each of you has a great responsibility, but you are not alone: everyone wants you to succeed," he told the representatives of the Afghan parties, from whom he demanded an "inclusive negotiation process" before starting the dialogue that has been set in motion. 

For his part, the Afghan government delegation left Kabul with the wish of national president Ashraf Ghani that he be "successful" in his challenge to "achieve sustainable peace and stability for the country". 

Since 29 February the insurgents have not attacked the international forces. In exchange for this truce they are achieving what has always been one of their greatest demands: the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country.

There were doubts about the establishment of the dialogue as the Taliban insisted on the need for the Kabul government to release all the members of the list of 5,000 prisoners it handed over in February. The Afghan authorities were reluctant to do so at first, but US pressure forced them to accept and in recent months, despite the fact that the security forces have suffered constant attacks from the insurgency throughout the country, they have been releasing all the names on the list.

Various Afghan media have reported that negotiations are now focusing on the establishment of a transitional government for 18 months, during which time they must draft a new constitution and during which each side should commit itself to maintaining security and order in the areas it controls.