Chance for peace talks ‘without Karzai’

A top Pakistani official has said that the stalled peace talks, aimed at ending a prolonged conflict in Afghanistan, stands a better chance once President Hamid Karzai steps down, reports say.

On Tuesday, Reuters news agency quoted Sartaj Aziz, a senior adviser to Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on national security and foreign affairs, as saying that Islamabad sees a good chance for the resumption of the peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government after presidential election in April.

“My own feeling is that after the election the Taliban will probably talk to the new government more … than the present government,” Aziz said in Washington, adding, “So one should hope that before 2014 ends some kind of dialogue will be going on.”

He went on to say that, “If elections are held as slated and the new government is able to manage the security threat, the possibility of overrun by the Taliban is not very likely.”

Aziz also stressed that his country is ready to facilitate the resumption of peace talks by allowing a senior former Taliban leader, now in Pakistan, to travel to a third country.

In September 2013, Pakistan announced the release of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, in a move to resuscitate Afghan peace process. Mullah Baradar was captured in Karachi in July 2010.

The talks with the Taliban, slated in June 2013, were once called off by the Afghan president after he was angered over the flag the Taliban displayed at their compound in the Qatari capital Doha. The white flag bore a sign identifying the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

Karzai has demanded the United States to re-open peace talks with the Taliban, as a precondition for signing the controversial Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA).

Under the security deal, thousands of US soldiers are allowed to stay in the war-torn country after the planned 2014 withdrawal.