Interim setup to solve no Afghan problem: Abdullah

KABUL or other countries to make such a suggestion.

Abdullah, addressing a meeting in Kabul, said recent remarks by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan about an interim government in Afghanistan were not acceptable for any Afghan citizen as the Afghans would ever want others to decide their fate.

He said the Afghanistan’s people had rendered sacrifices over the past decades and it was their right to decide their own fate.

The CEO said, “The Pakistani government should know that the fate of Afghanistan is in the hands of Afghans.”

Earlier, Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan on last Monday suggested an interim setup in Afghanistan as a possible solution to an apparent impasse in the ongoing peace process, while blaming the Afghan government for the stalemate in talks.

According to reports, the suggestion came during Khan’s interaction with journalists at his office in Islamabad on Monday.

Meanwhile, first deputy CEO  Eng. Mohammad Khan’s media office in a statement termed Imran Khan’s recent remarks as irresponsible and a clear interference in Afghanistan internal affairs.

The statement said the Afghan government was trying for years to achieve peace and had kept open its doors for peace negotiations and would not create hurdle to the peace talks because it was the Afghan people’s primary demand.

Earlier, US Ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass and Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation ZalmayKhalilzad flayed the Pakistan prime minister’s remarks as unconstructive and unhelpful.

In a tweet, the US ambassador said: “Some aspects of cricket apply well in diplomacy, some don’t. Imran Khan, important to resist temptation to ball-tampering with the Afghanistan peace process and its internal affairs.”

In a separate tweet, Khalilzad hailed Pakistan for its constructive contribution to Afghan peace process, but not Imran Khan’s recent comments about an interim set-up in Kabul to conduct elections.

“While Pakistan has made constructive contributions on the AfghanPeaceProcess, PM Khan's comments did not. The future of Afghanistan is for Afghans, and only Afghans, to decide. The role of the international community is to encourage Afghans to come together so they can do so.”

pk/ma