KABUL - The High Peace Council (HPC), a government body tasked with brokering peace with Taliban and other insurgent groups, on Sunday said removing the names of Taliban figures from a UN blacklist would help assist the peace process.

HPC spokesman Maulvi Shahzada Shahid told Pajhwok Afghan News that the council had urged the United Nations to cooperate with it in removing the names of Taliban leaders from the sanction list.

He said the HPC had been insisting on removing the names of Taliban leaders from the blacklist because it could help advance the peace process.

Shahid preferred the opening of a political bureau for the Taliban inside Afghanistan, but said it was not an insistence on their part. He said such an office should be opened everywhere the Taliban wanted.

He called as essential steps for making the peace process a success the removal of Taliban leaders’ names from the UN blacklist and opening an office for the Taliban.

Few days ago, two days of informal talks took place in Qatar between Taliban delegates and political and government representatives.

At the talks, the Taliban demanded the removal of their leaders from the UN blacklist and reopening of their Doha office. They also called for withdrawal of all foreign troops from Afghanistan. (Pajhwok)