KABUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th March, 2020) The Taliban movement is ready to begin intra-Afghan peace talks with the country's government on Tuesday, once all preconditions are fulfilled, Suhail Shaheen, a spokesman for the Taliban political office, said in a statement on Friday.
"If the provisions of the agreements are implemented and prisoners are released, the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] is prepared for intra-Afghan negotiations on March 10. Our negotiation team and agenda are ready and will go ahead as agreed," Shaheen said.
If the negotiations are delayed beyond the stated date, the responsibility will rest with the other party, he added.
On Saturday, the United States and the Taliban signed a long-awaited peace deal in Qatar that sets the beginning of the talks for March 10, provided that up to 5,000 Taliban prisoners are released from jail by that time in exchange for 1,000 prisoners released by the radical movement. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said, however, that Kabul never committed to releasing the prisoners as a precondition for the talks, but rather as a part of them.
