On Thursday, TOLOnews reported that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Sibghatullah Ahmadi publicly supported Pakistan’s hosting of a Taliban delegation, while President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi condemned the meeting as inappropriate, saying that welcoming terrorists--whose only agenda is war--violates diplomatic norms.

Later in a tweet, Sediqqi claimed that MoFA’s Ahmadi was not expressing the views of the Afghan government. 

But on Twitter this morning, Ahmadi reiterated his stand on the Islamabad talks: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the sole implementer of the country's foreign policy and the entity reflecting on the official position of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, continues to support the peace process and efforts to facilitate the peace talks.” 

And he stated that his views are the Ministry’s views:  “I also have at all times and solely expressed the official stance of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan.”

MoFA, which is under Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah’s control, was involved in another skirmish last month when Ghani ordered a degree to investigate suspicious appointments within the Ministry, and Abdullah suspended the decree, claiming that Ghani’s initiative was part of a re-election strategy.