Chief Kabul Negotiator Urges Talibs to Concern Themselves With Afghans' Welfare

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th June, 2020) The Taliban should look beyond their own objectives in the upcoming intra-Afghan peace talks and do what is in the best interest of all Afghans, Kabul's lead negotiator said Wednesday.

Washington struck a deal with the insurgent group in February that would see it pull US troops out of Afghanistan if the Taliban make sure that international terrorists never find safe haven on Afghan soil.

"We need to look at it [the pullout] as opportunity for all Afghans, rather than try to take advantage of it for the sake of one group. Hopefully, that is not the thinking within the Taliban," Abdullah Abdullah, the chair of the Afghan High Council for National Reconciliation, said.

The council will oversee direct talks with the Taliban, which were to begin in March but were delayed as the agreed-on prisoner exchange stalled. There is still no date for when the negotiations will start.