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Pakistan Says Taliban Unwilling To Talk To Afghan Gov't
News.xinhuanet.com
August 28, 2013: yesterday Pakistan has said that Afghan Taliban insurgents are unwilling to talk to the Karzai government and its peace negotiators at least for now. The statement came hours after Afghan President Hamid Karzai concluded a two-day visit to Pakistan. The visit was focused on encouraging Taliban to a negotiating table.
Spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, Aimal Faizi said in Islamabad that President Karzai had pressed for the Islamabad's help to bring Taliban leaders to the negotiating table.
Afghan government claims that leaders of Taliban are living in Pakistan and reiterates that Islamabad should use its influence on them to facilitate direct talks between Taliban and Afghan High Peace Council.
Advisor to the Pakistani Prime Minister on National Security and Foreign Affairs Sartaj Aziz has said that Taliban are not willing to talk to either the Afghan government or the Afghan High Peace Council. However Pakistan will try its best to persuade them to hold dialogue to avert an outbreak of a civil war in post-conflict Afghanistan, Advisor Aziz told state radio.
The U.S.-led invasion ousted the Taliban regime in late 2001 for harboring al-Qaeda. U.S. and NATO-led combat troops are due to complete the withdrawal of their forces from Afghanistan by the end of 2014.
Advisor Aziz stated that the President Karzai's visit helped to reach an understanding and to remove misgivings between the two countries. "The two sides acknowledged that peace and stability was interlinked," he said.
President Karzai extended his daylong visit to Pakistan by one day on Tuesday and held another round of talks with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on peace process in war-torn Afghanistan.
According to the Prime Minister's office, Prime Minister Sharif told President Karzai that Pakistan and Afghanistan have to work closely to bring peace in the region.
Prime Minister Sharif reaffirmed Pakistan's strong and sincere support for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, stating the region has suffered from conflict and instability for decades and it's high time to realize common agenda of peace and development in the two neighboring countries.
