Wahid Omar at a press conference on Sunday in Kabul responded to the Taliban statement about the Afghan peace delegation being "against the agreement between the Taliban and the US," saying the Taliban must not raise issues with our delegation, as we also can raise issues with theirs.
All the prisoners released at one time would be not possible, and there are conditions, Omar said, adding that the delegation that has been announced will represent “a united Afghanistan.”
“We have never said what kind of Taliban should form a delegation, so we are asking the Taliban to not make an issue out of it,” he said.
“We hope that the Taliban also forms their delegation and the intra-Afghan talks can start,” he said.
Earlier the Taliban released a statement saying that the group has some reservations about the peace negotiating team formed by the Afghan government and that the Afghan government can take part in the intra-Afghan talks "only as a side like other Afghan factions."
“The team announced by the (Afghan govt) is...against the peace agreement between the Taliban and the US,” said the Taliban statement.
“In order to reach lasting and real peace, this should be formed with the agreement of all sides, so that it can represent others too. But it looks like other sides are not satisfied with the team announced,” the statement said.
On Satuday, the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo in a tweet on Saturday said that he his “thankful to his Afghan counterparts for preparing an inclusive negotiating team for intra-Afghan negotiations,” and urged them to also form an inclusive government.
“I also applaud your commitment to begin releasing prisoners and your commendable effort to set conditions for peace and reconciliation,” he said.
Meanwhile, former mujahideen leader Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf welcomed the formation of the negotiating team and said it should have a specific agenda for their talks with the Taliban.
“The High Reconciliation Council is being formed and it will determine the lines and the framework of talks with the Taliban,” Sayyaf told TOLOnews on Sunday.
“The delegation, as per the announcement of the president, has full authority to conduct negotiations about policies that are under consideration,” said Nader Naderi, a member of the government’s negotiating team. “The ultimate goal is to ensure peace in Afghanistan and to end the war, and this is connected to the skill of the (negotiating) team members and, at the same time, on the will of both sides.”