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Khalilzad Calls for Resilience in Afghan Negotiations

As efforts are underway to start the peace negotiations in Doha, the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad calls on peace negotiators to show resilience, saying the alternative scenario will be the repeat of past mistakes and it will change Afghanistan into a second Syria. 

Talking to TOLOnews in an interview on Tuesday, Khalilzad said the negotiations in Qatar have made progress and that Washington will make efforts to convince both sides to agree to an immediate reduction in violence, a ceasefire and a political settlement. 

The US diplomat said the two sides of the negotiations should convince each other to find common ground for their differences on the procedural rules of the negotiations. 

“A thought that we are everything and the other side is nothing, and, on the contrary, if the other side says that everything that we want should be accepted-- is not a formula for political settlement and it is a repeat of past mistakes and its result is war and, according to some, it will be turning Afghanistan into Syria,” Khalilzad said. 

The negotiating teams of both sides have held over seven meetings between contact groups to discuss the procedural rules for the negotiations over the last three weeks, but they have not reached an agreement so far. One of the two disputed points is the religious basis for the negotiations. 

The US envoy said the violence level in the country is concerning. 

“Violence is very high. Many Afghans are killed. Violence must reduce. It was promised and this commitment should be fulfilled and violence should be replaced with peace, enmity should be replaced by acceptance, and Afghans are hopeful and so we are,” he added. 

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani, speaking at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies on Tuesday, stressed the need for inclusivity in the peace process and said the Afghan people must come first in peace. He also said there is a need for a nationwide ceasefire to move the process forward. 

Ghani recalled the days when Afghanistan was peaceful and added that the last four decades of war have damaged Afghanistan economically, socially and politically.   

“Peace in Afghanistan cannot be a peace of the elite. Peace in Afghanistan cannot be the peace of one group. Peace in Afghanistan cannot be the peace of factions. Peace must be the peace of the people,” Ghani said. “Because people are sovereign. Therefore, we must put the people first and do what our constriction, our religion and our morals command us to do, we are servants."    

He mentioned the  2018 Eid ceasefire as a sign that Afghans can agree on peace. “It shows an immense capacity to overcome the past and move forward towards the future,” Ghani said, recalling the ceasefire.    

Ghani highlighted the importance of the Loya Jirga, the grand council--comprised of thousands of Afghan delegates--in making decisions about peace, and he said the Jirga showed Afghan capacity and alignment.  

3,300 Afghans came together in four days and reached an agreement in three days. Our conflicts have never been about separation. Our conflicts have been a competition to control the center, said Ghani.  

Ghani said Afghanistan has geological resources worth a trillion and that the country’s location, within Asia's economy, will be worth many more trillions.  

President Ghani arrived in Doha on Monday as the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and a Taliban team attempt to start direct talks.

Khalilzad Calls for Resilience in Afghan Negotiations

Khalilzad says a political settlement for the conflict in Afghanistan is possible. 

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As efforts are underway to start the peace negotiations in Doha, the US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad calls on peace negotiators to show resilience, saying the alternative scenario will be the repeat of past mistakes and it will change Afghanistan into a second Syria. 

Talking to TOLOnews in an interview on Tuesday, Khalilzad said the negotiations in Qatar have made progress and that Washington will make efforts to convince both sides to agree to an immediate reduction in violence, a ceasefire and a political settlement. 

The US diplomat said the two sides of the negotiations should convince each other to find common ground for their differences on the procedural rules of the negotiations. 

“A thought that we are everything and the other side is nothing, and, on the contrary, if the other side says that everything that we want should be accepted-- is not a formula for political settlement and it is a repeat of past mistakes and its result is war and, according to some, it will be turning Afghanistan into Syria,” Khalilzad said. 

The negotiating teams of both sides have held over seven meetings between contact groups to discuss the procedural rules for the negotiations over the last three weeks, but they have not reached an agreement so far. One of the two disputed points is the religious basis for the negotiations. 

The US envoy said the violence level in the country is concerning. 

“Violence is very high. Many Afghans are killed. Violence must reduce. It was promised and this commitment should be fulfilled and violence should be replaced with peace, enmity should be replaced by acceptance, and Afghans are hopeful and so we are,” he added. 

Meanwhile, President Ashraf Ghani, speaking at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies on Tuesday, stressed the need for inclusivity in the peace process and said the Afghan people must come first in peace. He also said there is a need for a nationwide ceasefire to move the process forward. 

Ghani recalled the days when Afghanistan was peaceful and added that the last four decades of war have damaged Afghanistan economically, socially and politically.   

“Peace in Afghanistan cannot be a peace of the elite. Peace in Afghanistan cannot be the peace of one group. Peace in Afghanistan cannot be the peace of factions. Peace must be the peace of the people,” Ghani said. “Because people are sovereign. Therefore, we must put the people first and do what our constriction, our religion and our morals command us to do, we are servants."    

He mentioned the  2018 Eid ceasefire as a sign that Afghans can agree on peace. “It shows an immense capacity to overcome the past and move forward towards the future,” Ghani said, recalling the ceasefire.    

Ghani highlighted the importance of the Loya Jirga, the grand council--comprised of thousands of Afghan delegates--in making decisions about peace, and he said the Jirga showed Afghan capacity and alignment.  

3,300 Afghans came together in four days and reached an agreement in three days. Our conflicts have never been about separation. Our conflicts have been a competition to control the center, said Ghani.  

Ghani said Afghanistan has geological resources worth a trillion and that the country’s location, within Asia's economy, will be worth many more trillions.  

President Ghani arrived in Doha on Monday as the negotiating team of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and a Taliban team attempt to start direct talks.

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