Kabul, January 30: Taliban leaders said on Friday that they will decide soon on Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s offer of peace talks and on whether they will join the government.
Karzai, on Thursday, at a major conference on Afghanistan in London, invited Taliban leaders to take part in a “loya jirga” — or large assembly of elders — to initiate peace talks aimed at ending the Afghan war.
Under Karzai’s proposal, Western powers, who are calling for efficient plans that would pave the way for them to begin withdrawing their troops, would not be directly involved in the peace talks.
Karzai has also offered the Taliban militants jobs and cash, should they lay down their arms. The West has assured to set up a fund for this purpose.
A Taliban spokesman, who uses the name Qari Mohammad Yousuf, told Reuters that the leadership “will soon decide” whether to take part in the peace talks.
The Taliban have repeatedly stated that negotiations with the Afghan government can only take place when foreign troops have completely withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The militants had initially rejected the plan as “ploy” and Western propaganda.
——-Agencies