The High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR) has included the names of Sayed Eshaq Gailani, Farkhundza and Shahzada Massoud to the list of 45 members of the council, sources within the peace council said on Wednesday, as a breakthrough was reported in the talks between the delegations of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the Taliban in Doha. Members of both delegations confirmed that an agreement had been reached on the procedural rules intended to kick start the formal talks.
The High Council of National Reconciliation is expected to convene its first meeting on Saturday at the Presidential Palace, sources said on condition of anonymity.
According to the sources, Abdullah Abdullah, the chairman of the High Council of National Reconciliation, is currently holding regular discussions with the Afghan political leaders about the agenda of the meeting on Saturday.
According to the sources, there is also the possibility that the names of Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), Ahmad Massoud, the son of Afghanistan’s National Champion Ahmad Shah Massoud and Ahmad Wali Massoud, former Afghan ambassador to the UK, will be included in the list.
“They are working on it with full speed, his honorable Dr. (Abdullah Abdullah) works on it very hard, it is hoped that the first meeting will be held on Saturday, the issue of what they will give to Doha is more important than the meeting itself,” said Sayed Eshaq Gailani, the head of Nahzat-e-Hambastagi-Milli Afghanistan party.
Analysts on Monday criticized Abdullah Abdullah, head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, for the delay in making the council fully staffed and functional, saying that Abdullah is spending his time on foreign trips rather than focusing on filling the member posts of the council.
The analysts said that Abdullah should first establish a national consensus on the peace process and then pursue international trips to boost regional consensus on Afghan peace.
Abdullah traveled to Pakistan, India, Iran, Uzbekistan and Turkey in the last two months to attract more regional support to the Afghan peace process.
The High Council for National Reconciliation said the formation of the leadership of the council will be announced in the near future.
But some politicians--who, according to sources, are not part of the council--said they have not been consulted about this matter.
In August, President Ghani in a decree announced 45 politicians as members of the leadership of the High Council for National Reconciliation, but the decision was rejected by Abdullah, who said he has the authority to appoint members of the council, not the president.
This comes as the EU, the UK and US embassy in Kabul called for “urgent establishment” and "operationalization" of the Reconciliation Council.
“We do not belive that Dr. Ghani and Dr. Abdullah reach an agreement on this, but they held meetings in the presence of Mr. Karzai and Sayyaf, but the details are not known and we do not know what they really discussed,” said Khyal Mohammad Hussaini, former governor of Zabul.
“He (Abdullah) loves protocol, he goes to Iran and then Uzbekistan and then Turkey, but the important issue to the Afghan people is peace,” said MP Abdul Rahman Ayoubi.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) has said that it allocated 10 million Afs in emergency funds for the expenditures of the High Council of National Reconciliation.