PESHAWAR - The Afghan Taliban are open to peace negotiations if the dialogue takes place in accordance with the Islamic Shariah, the group’s second-in-command said on Wednesday.
In an audio message, Sirajuddin Haqqani said the Taliban were not averse to talks if they were held in line with the Sharia and if the international community agreed to it,
Haqqani, who was elected as Taliban’s deputy supreme leader last month, is apparently answering queries from writers and members of the Taliban’s media team.
The Taliban released the 45-minute audio message with a brief statement that says Sirajuddin has talked on important issues. He was asked about the impression the Taliban did not favour political dialogue.
In response, Haqqani said: “Our Political Commission deals with the issue of negotiations. If we were opposed to talks, we would have never formed this commission. This was a consensus decision of the Taliban leadership.”
He assailed the international community for imposing what he called “a puppet administration” on the Afghans. “They are now asking and even forcing us to join it. We cannot accept this demand. The Kabul administration has no power as it cannot implement any decision.”
With regard to America’s expanded drone strikes in Afghanistan, the commander believed the decision would fail the way all US strategies had fallen by the wayside since 2001.
The Haqqani network was part of the Taliban, he said, explaining: “We are not a separate entity. We have never said this. It is the enemy who thinks we are separate. We have repeatedly said the Islamic Emirate is one.”(Pajhwok)