President Karzai met the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad and discussed the issue of talks with Taliban. The Presidential Palace says Qatari leader has promised to pave way for negotiations between the Afghan Government and Taliban. Karzai invited Sheikh Hamad to visit Afghanistan, which he accepted. However, no date for the visit was confirmed.
The President is visiting Doha with a large delegation where he attended the tenth annual U.S.-Islamic World Forum. He said the Muslim world is in a state of tumult, and that the war on terror has further fuelled radicalism.
President Karzai once again raised the question of terrorist havens, which the coalition partners of the war on terror have ignored. He asked the forum, “Does the menace exist inside Afghanistan's villages and homes? Have we paid heed to real terrorist sanctuaries?" He further said the Western world needs to solve the Israel Palestinian conflict as a necessary step for the fight against radicalism. Karzai explained he being a Muslim did not want Israel to be wiped off the world map. He wanted the Israelis to live in their country like all other nations, but the Palestinians should be given a similar right.
As a country in conflict, our leader should be more concerned about Afghanistan and our region rather than the Israel and Palestine. Though he visited Doha for the forum, but talks with Taliban and gaining confidence and support of the Qatari leader for this has been main purpose of the President. It remains to be seen how committed Sheikh Hamad will remain to his promise of support to urge Taliban for talks. In recent media reports, the new Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan James Dobbins has conveyed that the Taliban are willing to talk with the government. However, reportedly the Government “has not agreed with certain pre-conditions put forward by the Taliban and discussions are underway to find out a solution”. Though the Taliban have rejected such reports saying there are no plans to meet with the government delegation in Qatar.
It seems all the claims and meetings from Qatar to Kabul are not working to set a mechanism for talks. Taliban have shown no willingness. They have been quite clear and persistent with their agenda. They continue slaughtering innocent civilians in bloodbath. There is not a single day when a civilian or member of the ANP or ANA is being killed.