Taliban hints at Afghan power-sharing
By Abubakar Siddique
The Taliban have expressed their readiness to share power in Afghanistan a day after the hardline Islamic group opened a political office in Qatar. Mohammad Naeem, the spokesman for the Qatar office, told RFE/RL that the Taliban want to have an inclusive Afghan government.
"In his speeches and statements, our leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has repeatedly said that we want a government that includes all Afghans," Naeem said. "It should be a government, in which all our people and their representatives can participate and be a part of. It should give Afghans the hope that it a government for all of them and this country belongs to all of them."
Asked by RFE/RL if the Taliban are ready to negotiate with
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's representatives in Qatar, Naeem said that the Taliban is ready "talk to all Afghans who come to the [Qatar] office."
Washington has welcomed the the opening of the Taliban office, and President Barack Obama has defended US efforts to negotiate with the radical movement. Afghan President Hamid Karzai said there were "foreign hands" behind the Taliban's new office.
Obama's remarks in Berlin on June 19 came after Karzai suspended talks with Washington on a treaty that would allow US troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014, called the Bilateral Security Agreement. At a press conference in Berlin with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama said he sees Afghan peace talks and negotiations for a post-2014 international presence in Afghanistan as part of a "parallel track".
"Even as we go through some, frankly, difficult negotiations around what it would mean for the international community to have an ongoing training and advising presence after 2014, we still believe that you've got to have a parallel track to at least look at the prospect of some sort of political reconciliation," Obama said. "Whether that bears fruit, whether it actually happens, or whether post 2014 there's going to continue to be fighting, as there was before ISAF forces got into Afghanistan, that's a question that only the Afghans can answer."
Karzai hours earlier said the Afghan High Peace Council would not take part in peace talks in Qatar unless the peace process was Afghan-led. The Peace Council is a body of Afghanistan's internationally backed Peace and Reintegration Program. The council is appointed by Karzai and includes four former members of the Taliban regime as well as political figures who are Karzai's allies and members of the political opposition in Kabul.
The Taliban had refused to engage with the council officially or even recognize Karzai's government in the past. The Taliban insists that there should be no foreign military presence in Afghanistan.
Known as the "Political Office of The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan", the office uses the Taliban regime's name for Afghanistan before it was ousted by the 2001 US-led invasion.
The lower house of Afghanistan's parliament said in a statement on June 19 that it would not recognize any political office outside of Afghanistan that was not part of the Afghan government.
The transcript of an interview follows in which RFE/RL correspondent Abubakar Siddique speaks with spokesman Mohammad Naeem, who explained the Taliban's motives and aspirations behind the opening of their contact office in Doha.
RFE/RL: How were you able to open this office in Qatar, given that you've had a deadlock with Washington since accusing them of reneging on their promises 18 months ago?
Mohammad Naeem: The opening of this office is based on an understanding between the Islamic Emirate [Editor's note: the formal name of the Afghan Taliban] and Qatar. In 2011, we requested that the government of Qatar help open a political office for the Islamic Emirate in their country. Qatar has now in 2013 shown its willingness to act on our request.
RFE/RL: You recently said that you will begin talking to Washington soon. What will the agenda be for these talks?
Naeem: This will be the first formal round of talks between the Islamic Emirate and the United States of America. So we will not talk about any specific issues; it will be an opportunity to exchange views. It is possible that we will have a specific agenda for the second and third rounds of talks.
RFE/RL: In the past, you insisted that no talks could begin until Taliban leaders detained at Guantanamo Bay were released. Are they being freed now?
Naeem: We will talk about that issue. In the past, we had no address or contact office where we could sit down with people and talk about such issues.
RFE/RL: You have always described the foreign occupation as the primary motive behind your insurgency. Has that problem has been resolved since foreign forces began the last phase of transitioning security responsibilities to Afghan government troops?
Naeem: The whole world and our people are witness to the fact that foreign forces still operate in Afghanistan. Despite calling it a transition to Afghan security forces, the foreign forces conduct military operations on their own. As long as foreign forces are there, we cannot call it the end of occupation.
RFE/RL: Will you talk to the representatives of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai in you Qatar office?
Naeem: Yes, one of the main objectives of opening this office is to meet Afghans. All Afghans can consult us in that office.
RFE/RL: Previously, you described President Karzai's administration as a "puppet regime". Are you ready to talk to Karzai officials now?
Naeem: Our policy is clear. We have said that the problem in Afghanistan has two important aspects. One aspect is related to the occupation of Afghanistan by foreign forces; this is the important part. Until that issue is resolved, we see no benefit in talking about solving the internal aspect. We will think about addressing the internal aspect after sorting out our problems with the foreigners.
RFE/RL: Many Afghans say it is impossible for any peace talks to bear fruit so long as violence continues. How do you respond?
Naeem: As Afghans, their suffering worries us. We have opened this office because our opponents said they wanted to solve this problem through a political process. Now this is our response to that.
RFE/RL: But in your recent statements, you have made it clear that you will continue fighting, even as talks commence. Why won't you declare a ceasefire?
Naeem: We all know that once two sides sit across the table from each other, then we can talk about these issues. It is not so simple and won't be normal or rational to expect to achieve this [a ceasefire] in a couple days. We will look into this after listening to what they have to say.
RFE/RL: Your movement has always declared the implementation of Islamic law as one of its paramount objectives. But Afghanistan's current constitution already gives Islam primacy in all laws. What specific changes do you seek to implement?
Naeem: The most important issue here is the issue of sovereignty. The current administration in Kabul is not sovereign. How can it then implement [Islamic] laws or harmonize them with the demands of the present times. In the past 12 years, we have seen that despite all their resources and the international political backing and military aid, they have failed to serve our people in a significant manner.
RFE/RL: What kind of political system you want to put in place for the future? Do you want to restore the political system the Taliban created in the 1990s, or are you willing to negotiate an accommodation with other Afghans?
Naeem: In his speeches and statements, our leader Mullah Mohammad Omar has repeatedly said that we want a government that includes all Afghans. It should be a government in which all our people and their representatives can participate and be a part. It should give Afghans hope that it is a government for all of them and this country belongs to all of them.
Copyright 2013, RFE/RL Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC 20036.
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