A German-sponsored deal .. Does the Afghan dialogue lead to reconciliation with the Taliban?

Hamidullah Mohammed Shah-Kabul

Afghanistan's political dialogue in Doha is an important and successful development that could pave the way for peace and stability in Afghanistan and end the four-decade-old war.

Two weeks after the meeting, with the participation of 60 Afghan personalities representing the various parties in the country and at the invitation of Qatar and Germany, the observers see that the participation of representatives of the government - in their personal capacity - is a positive development that helps bring the views of the Afghan government and the Taliban closer.

This point marked the conference on the two rounds held two months ago in Moscow between representatives of the Taliban and Afghan personalities, which the Afghan government objected to. However, this time it welcomed the understandings reached by the two parties in Doha. .

"The Afghan government welcomes the paper of understandings reached by the Afghan dialogue in Doha," said Cem Arif, a spokesman for the Afghan president. "There are positive points in the paper that we see as a good preparation for a direct dialogue between the Afghan government and the Taliban because the conflict is between them. Table together sooner or later. "

Aref revealed that there will be a preliminary agreement before September next, to build on it for the comprehensive Afghan dialogue, resulting in a ceasefire throughout the country.

In contrast, the Taliban believes that the Doha conference and Moscow is nothing more than a meeting between the Taliban and the Afghan parties can not be called negotiations.

Dialogue and objections
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that the dialogue between the Afghans in Doha "was a conference and not negotiations between the two parties, and we can not start negotiations with the Afghan government as long as the US forces in Afghanistan .. First must resolve the external or foreign dimension of the Afghan issue, With the government. "

He added that in the presence of foreign forces in the country can not take decisions fateful and large, so must agree with the United States on the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan first.

According to sources close to the negotiations, the second round between the Afghans will be held in the city of Samarkand, Uzbekistan, this time will participate representatives of the Afghan government and the Taliban face to face.

Afghan President Mohammad Ghani confirms the holding of the presidential elections, which have been postponed twice so far with a recommendation from the United States, hoping to achieve reconciliation with the Taliban and enable the latter to integrate into the political process.

Given the current dynamics in Afghanistan, reconciliation and elections appear to be somewhat contradictory objectives, and the prospects for a successful peace process will be greatly diminished if the Afghan president insists on holding elections before reaching an agreement with the Taliban.

After seven rounds of negotiations between Washington and the Taliban and the Afghan-Afghan dialogue in Moscow and Qatar, the parties to the conflict in Afghanistan seem to be drawing closer to a peace agreement, but the prospect of such a deal is highly unpredictable and subject to another day.

Politicians, experts and the Afghan people have raised a number of concerns recently about the current peace efforts, most of which are aimed at the post-peace and reconciliation phase in Afghanistan. The main reason for concern is that everything that was negotiated during the negotiations remained secret between the two parties. Even the Afghan government does not know what happened Between them.

In the meantime, the Afghan street prefers peace and reconciliation with the Taliban, then elections and consensus to outline Afghanistan's political future.