Talks bring nation closer to peace pact
KABUL — AllAfghan talks that brought together Afghanistan’s warring sides ended Tuesday with a statement that appeared to push the country a step closer to peace, by laying down the outlines of a road map for the country’s future and ending nearly 18 years of war.
Washington’s Peace Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad has said he is hoping for a final agreement by Sept. 1, which would allow the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops. He was set to begin an eighth round of peace talks with the Taliban later on Tuesday also in Qatar’s capital, Doha, where the twoday conference was held.
Tuesday’s statement said that a postwar Afghanistan would have an Islamic legal system, protect women’s rights “within the Islamic framework of Islamic values,” and ensure equality for all ethnic groups. The muchtouted conference was attended by Taliban, Afghan government representatives, women and members of the country’s nascent civil society. It aimed to produce a new level of consensus among Afghanistan’s fissiparous society.
No date was given for the tougher negotiations to follow, when the many sides in Afghanistan’s protracted conflict will sit down to hammer out the details of what an Islamic system will look like, how constitutional reform will come about, and what will become of the many local militias affiliated with the country’s powerful warlords, who are affiliated with Kabul. They will also have to tackle how women’s rights fit into the definition of the “Islamic values,” as well as whether to set up an interim administration and when elections should be held.
The conference agreed to keep the momentum going with confidence building measures. These included the unconditional release of old, disabled and sick prisoners — though there was no mention of the affiliation of the prisoners or whether it included those captured in the war. The warring sides also agreed not to attack institutions such as hospitals and schools, as well as national infrastructure such as hydroelectric dams. They also agreed to be more diplomatic in their references to each other.
There was no mention of a ceasefire, which Khalilzad has said the negotiations on the final deal would address.
Both sides did agree, however, to do more to protect civilians. The United Nations has expressed growing concern over civilian deaths in the conflict, and has criticized all sides for rising casualty rates, including from steppedup U.S. air strikes.