Wednesday, August 17, 2011 – According to Government Media and Information Centre (GMIC), participation of the Taliban in forthcoming Bonn conference has not yet been discussed officially.
Director of GMIC Abdul Hakim Asher said, the only way that Taliban could participate in the Bonn conference is that they become part of Afghan delegation.
Abdul Hakim Asher further added, the Taliban wouldn’t have any chance to partake in the conference as a side of negotiation.
Afghanistan will be represented by a delegation which has been assigned and the delegation will present the issues relating Afghanistan in the Bonn conference which is due in coming December.
Abdul Hakim Asher said, “Apart from the Afghan delegation, no other side could participate in the conference. All sides could become part of the Afghan delegation for peace, stability, negotiation purposes and then participate in the conference.”
This comes as, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, earlier had said, the second Bonn conference will be led by Afghans and Kabul should decide whether to exclude or include Taliban in the conference.
Meanwhile, Ryan Crocker earlier before also said, there is no space for the Taliban to take part in the forthcoming Bonn conference.
On the other hand, a number of former Taliban commanders have warned that absence of Taliban in the second Bonn conference will add to violence in Afghanistan.
The former Taliban commanders also said, organizing Bonn conference outside Afghanistan means that the country is not sovereign and without an elected government.
According to Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, the former leader of the Taliban Jaish al-Muslimeen group and Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former senior Taliban official, the conference would be a mistake if the Taliban are excluded.
