Differences over whether the Kabul-Taliban talks should continue in Qatar or move to Afghanistan should not stand in the way of a peace process, Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Wednesday amid President Ashraf Ghani's push for relocating them to national soil
KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2020) Differences over whether the Kabul-Taliban talks should continue in Qatar or move to Afghanistan should not stand in the way of a peace process, Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation, said on Wednesday amid President Ashraf Ghani's push for relocating them to national soil.
From Monday, Kabul and the Taliban took a three-week break in their talks, which had been underway since September in Qatar. On the same day, Ghani stated that the second round of talks, which is set to start on January 5, should be held in Afghanistan. The Taliban, which have their political office on Doha, have rejected the idea.
"The priority of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is to hold the second round of peace talks inside the country, so the final decision depends on the agreement of both sides and the location of the talks should not be an obstacle to negotiations," Abdullah said.
The official spoke at the inauguration ceremony for the National Peace Secretariat in Kabul.
The secretariat has been set up by a number of civil society groups to reflect concerns and views of Afghans in peace talks.
The differences over the location of the peace talks come after both sides announced in early December that they had agreed on the rules and procedures and were ready to move on to substantive items on the agenda.
