2nd round of talks to focus on lasting ceasefire

KABUL (Pajhwok): The head of the government’s negotiating team says they will focus on a lasting ceasefire in the second of peace parleys with the Taliban,

The Intra-Afghan negotiations, which began in September this year, will resume on January 5 in Doha after a three-week break.

Massoum Stanikzai, Kabul’s chief peace negotiator, tempered public expectations quick results. He said time would be needed to achieve progress.

“We will return to Qatar to resume negotiations with a strong will,” Stanikzai told a gathering at the Institute for Peace Studies in Kabul on Wednesday:

An end to the conflict in Afghanistan has been a longstanding demand of the people, according to Stanikzai, who called security, including a ceasefire, important for the masses.

The republic team has pledged to protect all rights of the Afghan people and the democratic system. “We should defend the existing system.”

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