KABUL - Former president Hamid Karzai says the peace process is the property of the Afghan government and that he supports American efforts in this regard.
Addressing a gathering marking the 90th death anniversary of Prof. Dr. Sayed Meer Bahauddin Majroh in Kabul, Karzai said the peace process should be in control of the Afghan government.
He said participation of all people of Afghanistan in the peace process was a basic condition. He said no angle of the process should be hidden from people and the nation should be informed about developments in this regard.
“In addition to supporting efforts for peace in Afghanistan, we ask the US government to also support a national agreement between the Afghan government, the people and the Taliban, because this is an Afghan issue and should be Afghanized,” he said.
About the US efforts for the Afghan peace process, Karzai said: “Our country is passing through an important period .. a sensitive historic situation, the Americans once after long years of war and destructions abandoned this country and now they are seeking peace, I strongly opposed their war and bombardments, but I now strongly support their peace efforts.”
He said the engagement of regional countries in the Afghan peace process was also important and the US should also consult neighboring countries of Afghanistan about peace.
“If these efforts are turned against Iran or Russia, it would just mean the destruction of Afghans”, he said.
Karzai said he had talked about the issue with Russia, China, Iran and Pakistan and asked them to welcome the US when it seek assistance from them for peace in Afghanistan.
“If the US really wants peace in Afghanistan, it should reach agreements with major countries such as Russia, China and others”, he added.
“It was the result of outside deals and our negligence when our country plunged into misfortunes, when foreigners meet to decide our fate, we think they are doing good to us, which is wrong.”
“Whenever foreigners meet (on our affairs), we should be careful about what are they doing, this does not mean that we are against Pakistan, if they take one step closer to us we will take a million steps closer to them, but we want a peaceful Afghanistan,” he said.
“The Afghan peace process and deal between the US and Pakistan are different things, we welcome this process but we want Afghans engaged from the beginning until the end of this process, wherever we are not present, the results do not come in our favor,” Karzai said.
He asked the Taliban to stop fighting and talk peace with the Afghan government. Karzai also asked the government to appoint a peace delegation which would be acceptable for all the Afghans.
Pointing to recent bombardments by US forces, he said, “Peace cannot be achieved with war and bombardments, I want the US to stop its air attacks that recently killed a number of women, men and children.”
On the other hand, Kazai remembered Prof. Dr. Sayed Meer Bahauddin Majroh as an academic, literary and cultural figure and said that his services to Afghanistan would never be forgotten. (Pajwhok)