"Loya Jirga" calls for reconciliation with the Taliban and the movement rejects

Hamidullah Mohammed Shah-Kabul

In Kabul, Kabul, a meeting of the tribal advisory body Loya Jirga ended in adopting a resolution calling on the authorities to move forward with reconciliation with the Taliban and demanding that the two sides show goodwill in releasing the detainees.

The president of the current session of the Loya Jirga Abdul Rab al-Rasul Sayyaf said the session had taken a decision to reconcile with the Taliban, and demanded Afghan President Mohammad Ghani not hesitate to move forward in achieving, stressing that the Afghan people raised their voice calling for reconciliation.

The statement said that the Afghan authorities and the Taliban are required to accept the call for reconciliation because it is a popular demand, in addition to a cease-fire throughout the country, including suicide bombings and night raids.

The statement also referred to the need to set a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan after consultation with the international community.

The statement called on the neighboring countries not to interfere in the internal affairs of Afghanistan, and appealed to Loya Jirga and the Afghan parties and parties that obstruct the efforts of reconciliation, stop this matter.

Earlier this week, more than 3,000 tribal and political leaders from all over Afghanistan arrived in Kabul to participate in the Loya Jirga meetings to discuss the outcome of US negotiations with the Taliban, describing the meeting as the largest in Afghanistan's modern history.

A different meeting
The last meeting of the Loya Jirga differs from the previous meetings in imposing its decisions after the Afghan president pledged in his speech at the conclusion of the meeting that he was "committed to the literal implementation of the statement and would form a small committee to implement the decisions of the jirga."

The most important decisions of the loya jirga are in line with the Taliban's demands for the US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad in the fifth round.

In addition to the above, the participants in Loya Jirga called on the parties to the conflict to show goodwill through the release of the detainees and appealed to the Taliban to open an office in a place they deem appropriate in the country.

Effects of decisions
The Afghan president recognizes the importance of the Loya Jirga decision in Afghan society, which prompted him to announce in his speech to the meeting the release of 175 Taliban detainees to show respect for the Loya Jirga resolution and demanded the movement to send its officials to Kabul or any Afghan city to hand over its detainees.

Loya Jirga has authorized the Afghan president to form a negotiating team with the Taliban, and sources say the team will not exceed 15 people.

On the other hand, the Taliban rejected the decisions of the advisory body tribal and questioned the credibility of the participants, and said in a statement that the Taliban representatives are negotiating with the US envoy, and after reaching a consensus with Washington, the movement will announce its readiness to negotiate with the Afghan side.

"With US troops in Afghanistan, negotiating with the Afghan government is a waste of time," the group said. The Taliban rejected the cease-fire that the Afghan president had made conditional, saying there could be no unilateral ceasefire.

Intersection parties
Most political parties and presidential candidates boycotted the Loya Jirga meetings, accusing the Afghan president of trying to use meetings to serve his election agenda. The boycotters see reconciliation as a popular demand that does not need to spend money for the Loya Jirga meeting.

"The boycott of political party leaders was not the right decision, because they seemed to have boycotted the principle of reconciliation and not the Afghan president," says political analyst Sharif Amiri. Amiri adds that the decisions of the Loya Jirga and the position of the Afghan president put the Taliban in front of a challenge difficult to deal with, Zalmay Khalilzad's position is reinforced in his negotiations with the movement.

The Afghan government does not appear to be too interested in boycotting several Loya Jirga party leaders. The participants said that the participants in the meetings were part of the political process and that the government wanted to consult tribal and state leaders in the states, thereby giving further legitimacy to Loya Jirga and its decisions.

"Participation in Loya Jirga is an honor denied to the leaders of the political parties, I do not know how they will justify their boycott, and they have to explain to us their position on reconciliation with the Taliban," said political activist Mullah Shinwari.

The Secretary-General of the Reconciliation Commission Omar Daoudzi said that the Taliban participated in the Loya Jirga without addressing the level of representation of the movement, or to the number of participants from the areas under the control of the Taliban, but the movement denied the news in full.