KABUL - High Peace Council (HPC) secretary Mohammad Omar Daudzai on Saturday said peace conference in Qatar might not be fruitful if held ahead of the Consultative Peace Jirga in Kabul, an Afghan government initiative.
Addressing reporters in Kabul, Daudzai said the Peace Jirga would be more diverse meeting as far as the representation of the Afghan people was concerned and expressed HPC’s full preparedness for the event. He made it clear there was no financial obstacle in arranging the grand meeting on peace.
A special technical and budgetary team has been proposed and approved by the president but there might be changes within the team.
Twenty-five hundred representatives from political parties, families of martyrs, ulema, youth, artists, civil society activists, Afghan refugees and provinces would participate in the jirga, including 30 percent women, said Daudzai.
Provincial council members and winning Wolesi Jirga candidates who had been awarded acknowledgment certificates by the Election Commission would be among the participants.
“It is president’s order that no Afghan should be deprived of the Peace Loya Jirga, being Afghans the Taliban would be also invited but there would more discussion on this subject due its political angle,” he said.
Referring his meeting with US Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Process Zalmay Khalilzad, he said some questions regarding the ongoing talks had been settled during the meeting but insisted some questions and ambiguities remained.
Referring to his meeting with political parties, Daudzai said all recommendations and objections of the political parties would be considered. (Pajhwok)