Sartaj Aziz says Taliban refused to negotiate with gov’t

Pakistan says that the Afghan Taliban have refused to hold talks with the  government and its peace council.

The statement came hours after Afghan President concluded a two-day visit to Pakistan that was focused on efforts to encourage the Taliban to come to the negotiation table.

Karzai’s spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said in Islamabad that President Karzai had pressed for Islamabad’s role to bring the Taliban leaders to the negotiation table.

Afghan government claims that leaders of the Taliban are living in Pakistan and that Islamabad still has deep influence on them and can facilitate direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan peace council.

A top Pakistani diplomat Tuesday said that Taliban do not want to talk to the Afghan government and its peace body.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz Taliban are not willing to talk to the Afghan Government or the Afghan High Peace Council.”

However‚ Pakistan will try its best to persuade them for dialogue so as to avert outbreak of civil war in post-conflict Afghanistan, Mr Aziz told state radio.

Commenting on the Afghan President’s visit to Islamabad‚ he stated that the visit helped forge understanding and remove misgivings between the two countries.

“The two sides acknowledged that their peace and stability was inter-linked,’ the adviser said.

Karzai had extended his daylong visit to Pakistan for second day on Tuesday and held another round of talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on peace process in the war-torn Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister office said Nawaz Sharif told President Karzai that Pakistan and Afghanistan have to work closely to bring peace in the region.

Mr Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan’s strong and sincere support for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and said the region has witnessed conflict and instability for decades now and it’s high time to realize our common positive agenda of peace and development.

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Posted by Tahir Khan on Aug 27 2013. Filed under Latest News, National, Pakistan, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.