The Afghan government will disclose the list of the peace negotiating team once the US and the Taliban finalize their peace agreement, the Presidential Palace said on Saturday, amid rumors that the Taliban leaders have agreed on a short-term ceasefire.

The delegation will represent the government of Afghanistan and it will be introduced simultaneously with the start of the intra-Afghan talks

“We are ready to introduce and send our peace negotiating team when they (the Taliban) reach a final conclusion with the US delegation and show their readiness to talk with the Afghan people,” said Durani Jawed Waziri, deputy spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani.

Fury among critics:

Meanwhile, Mohammad Ismail Khan, a former Mujahideen leader and a prominent member of Jamiat-e-Islami party of Afghanistan, has alleged that the government has monopolized the peace process and that it has not consulted the Afghan political leaders and political parties about the structure of the peace negotiating team.

“From the beginning the government has been trying to decide about peace alone and it has tried to take the control of the peace process in its hand, but the Taliban rejected it and this brought challenges for the process,” said Ismail Khan.

“The political parties were not consulted about this and no one knows about its structure, quantity and members. Nobody can speak about what level and on what stage this has been built and which people are included,” said Abdullah Qarloq, deputy head of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan.

But sources close to the process say that the majority of those in the structure of the peace negotiating team are members of the government and that the political parties have serious reservations about it.

“This is a golden opportunity for both the government and the political parties to form an inclusive, authorized and a national peace negotiating team as soon as possible,” said political analyst Shahzada Massoud.

Jalaluddin Shinwari, the Afghan attorney general during the Taliban regime has said that the group has agreed on a weeklong ceasefire with the US after signing the peace agreement.

“An agreement was reached about a weeklong ceasefire on condition that an agreement is signed between the US and the Taliban,” said Shinwari.