Pakistan’s Rehman Meeting With Taliban Confirmed

11 years ago | Posted in: Latest Politics News | 655 Views

A Pakistan political leader has met with the Afghan Taliban in Qatar in an unexpected move that the Pakistani government has distanced itself from and some Afghan analysts say will not bring any positive results.

Head of the Islamic conservative party Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman met with the Taliban representatives in Doha on Sunday.

It is understood that he met a group headed by Tayyab Agha, a close aide to Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar.

A former Taliban member believes that Rehman’s efforts will be futile in assisting the peace process which hinges more on the major parties.

“Pakistan should show a positive view [towards negotiations] and those Afghan Taliban who are located in Pakistan should also show eagerness and the Afghan government should also give a positive answer. Then I think these problems will be solved. Otherwise if there is negative outlook like there is now, I don’t think there will be any good results,” Sayed Akbar Agha, former head of Taliban affiliated Jaysh al-Muslimin group, told TOLOnews.

Political analyst Jawid Kohestani said that are some concerns that Rehman is working for Pakistan’s benefits rather than Afghanistan’s.

“Fazlur Rehman’s efforts to improve relations between the Taliban are not to create better relations with the Afghanistan government,” he told TOLOnews.

However, the Pakistan government Sunday distanced itself from the meeting with Interior Minister Rehman Malik saying the JUI-F chief was no longer an ally of the Pakistan Peoples Party government and was acting “in his personal capacity”.

“Fazlur Rehman is the head of an independent party… the government does not have any business in his negotiations with the [Afghan] Taliban or any other stakeholder,” Malik was quoted by the Express Tribune as telling reporters.

There are understood to be around a dozen Taliban representatives in Doha setting up an office with the support of the Afghan government.

Reports of the Rehman meeting were earlier dismissed by the Afghan foreign ministry as not important, despite the Afghan government’s repeated demand to all interested parties including Pakistan that it leads any Taliban negotiations.

“It is not important which Maulana has travelled to Qatar,” Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul told TOLOnews on Sunday.

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council member reiterated this Monday, saying that any negotiations must include Afghans.

“The efforts should be according to Afghan policy otherwise it will not be acceptable for us,” Mohammad Ismail Qasimyar said.

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