saiyan0321
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Iran is publicly hosting leaders of the Afghan Taliban movement at an ongoing conference on Islamic unity in Tehran, Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya reported on Wednesday.
Iranian Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, head of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, told reporters on Tuesday that an invitation was extended to the Taliban, which he described as moderate, to attend the two-day International Islamic Unity Conference.
Araki said that “the invitation was sent to some Islamic and political figures in the Taliban movement who believe in the unity of Muslims,” Al-Arabiya wrote, citing Iran’s Mehr News Agency. “Iran has always held contacts with some parties in the Taliban movement, who believe in the Islamic unity,” he added.
The Islamic unity conference kicked off in the Iranian capital on Thursday and has included calls by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, also sometimes described as a moderate, for Muslims to identify Israel’s “Zionist regime” as their “biggest enemy,” Iran’s state-owned Press TV reported. He added that sectarian wars in Islamic communities were orchestrated by Western powers and the Zionists.
Araki’s announcement comes shortly after Afghan lawmakers voiced concerns abut Iran’s ties with the Taliban. “Evidence of Russian and Iranian cooperation with the Taliban has been found,” Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the chairman of the Afghan Senate, said last week. He called indications of foreign support for the Taliban “worrisome,” Voice of America reported.
Muslimyar comments followed U.S. Gen. John Nicholson’s warning on December 2 that Russian and Iranian support for the Taliban was “not advancing the cause of stability in the region.”
Afghan officials have previously accused Iran of sheltering Taliban fighters in cross-border areas. “Families of a number of high ranking Taliban leaders reside in Iran,” Asif Nang, the governor of Afghanistan’s western Farah province, recently told Radio Liberty. “They live in cities such as Yazd, Kerman, and Mashhad, and come back to Afghanistan for subversive activities.”
While Iran denies that it supports Taliban, The Wall Street Journalreported in June 2015 that according to Afghan and Western officials, “Tehran has quietly increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and funding to the Taliban, and is now recruiting and training their fighters, posing a new threat to Afghanistan’s fragile security.”
[Photo: Journeyman Pictures / YouTube ]
http://www.thetower.org/4302-report-iran-hosting-taliban-leaders-at-islamic-unity-conference/
With the Russian statement and Iranian involvement I would say that the afghan govt should take our advice and come to formal talks with a ceasefire announced. With those talks come to a power sharing deal and then focus on ISIS. Let go of the ego. If the Taliban despite massive gains are willing to talk then take our advice and go for it.
Pakistan suggested to the Afghan government on Thursday to formally invite the Taliban for peace negotiations.
The comments came amid reports that Taliban political representatives in Qatar are exploring options for possible talks with the Afghan sides and foreign stakeholders, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The most apt way to move forward in this regard is serious talks between the Afghan government and Taliban. For this, the Afghan government needs to send positive signals to the Taliban inviting them to join the peace process along with necessary incentives," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.
"In our view, an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process is the best way and not the military option," the spokesman told his weekly briefing.
Pakistan had facilitated peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban in July 2015 in the scenic town of Murree near Islamabad. However, the breaking of news of death of the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omer led to suspension of the talks.
"We continued our efforts and remained actively engaged in serious efforts through the QCG (Quadrilateral Coordination Group) earlier this year. Again, the killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor (in a US drone strike) scuttled the process," Zakaria said.
He said Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the need for a politically negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and Taliban and has continuously endeavoured towards this goal.
--IANS
http://wap.business-standard.com/ar...-invite-taliban-for-talks-116121600046_1.html
@pakistani342 @Khan_21 @WAJsal
Iranian Ayatollah Mohsen Araki, head of the World Forum for Proximity of Islamic Schools of Thought, told reporters on Tuesday that an invitation was extended to the Taliban, which he described as moderate, to attend the two-day International Islamic Unity Conference.
Araki said that “the invitation was sent to some Islamic and political figures in the Taliban movement who believe in the unity of Muslims,” Al-Arabiya wrote, citing Iran’s Mehr News Agency. “Iran has always held contacts with some parties in the Taliban movement, who believe in the Islamic unity,” he added.
The Islamic unity conference kicked off in the Iranian capital on Thursday and has included calls by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, also sometimes described as a moderate, for Muslims to identify Israel’s “Zionist regime” as their “biggest enemy,” Iran’s state-owned Press TV reported. He added that sectarian wars in Islamic communities were orchestrated by Western powers and the Zionists.
Araki’s announcement comes shortly after Afghan lawmakers voiced concerns abut Iran’s ties with the Taliban. “Evidence of Russian and Iranian cooperation with the Taliban has been found,” Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, the chairman of the Afghan Senate, said last week. He called indications of foreign support for the Taliban “worrisome,” Voice of America reported.
Muslimyar comments followed U.S. Gen. John Nicholson’s warning on December 2 that Russian and Iranian support for the Taliban was “not advancing the cause of stability in the region.”
Afghan officials have previously accused Iran of sheltering Taliban fighters in cross-border areas. “Families of a number of high ranking Taliban leaders reside in Iran,” Asif Nang, the governor of Afghanistan’s western Farah province, recently told Radio Liberty. “They live in cities such as Yazd, Kerman, and Mashhad, and come back to Afghanistan for subversive activities.”
While Iran denies that it supports Taliban, The Wall Street Journalreported in June 2015 that according to Afghan and Western officials, “Tehran has quietly increased its supply of weapons, ammunition and funding to the Taliban, and is now recruiting and training their fighters, posing a new threat to Afghanistan’s fragile security.”
[Photo: Journeyman Pictures / YouTube ]
http://www.thetower.org/4302-report-iran-hosting-taliban-leaders-at-islamic-unity-conference/
With the Russian statement and Iranian involvement I would say that the afghan govt should take our advice and come to formal talks with a ceasefire announced. With those talks come to a power sharing deal and then focus on ISIS. Let go of the ego. If the Taliban despite massive gains are willing to talk then take our advice and go for it.
Pakistan suggested to the Afghan government on Thursday to formally invite the Taliban for peace negotiations.
The comments came amid reports that Taliban political representatives in Qatar are exploring options for possible talks with the Afghan sides and foreign stakeholders, Xinhua news agency reported.
"The most apt way to move forward in this regard is serious talks between the Afghan government and Taliban. For this, the Afghan government needs to send positive signals to the Taliban inviting them to join the peace process along with necessary incentives," Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said.
"In our view, an Afghan-owned and Afghan-led process is the best way and not the military option," the spokesman told his weekly briefing.
Pakistan had facilitated peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban in July 2015 in the scenic town of Murree near Islamabad. However, the breaking of news of death of the Taliban supreme leader Mullah Omer led to suspension of the talks.
"We continued our efforts and remained actively engaged in serious efforts through the QCG (Quadrilateral Coordination Group) earlier this year. Again, the killing of Mullah Akhtar Mansoor (in a US drone strike) scuttled the process," Zakaria said.
He said Pakistan has repeatedly emphasised the need for a politically negotiated settlement between the Afghan government and Taliban and has continuously endeavoured towards this goal.
--IANS
http://wap.business-standard.com/ar...-invite-taliban-for-talks-116121600046_1.html
@pakistani342 @Khan_21 @WAJsal
