‘Peace not possible in absence of international guarantee’

KABUL (Pajhwok): Three advisors to President Ashraf Ghani on Thursday told a gathering about peace in Kabul that no side could rule Afghanistan by force and peace could not be ensured in absence of national and international guarantees.

Mohammad Mohaqiq, advisor to the president on security and political affairs, talking to ‘National Symposium for Stable Peace’ here that they were optimistic about talks with the Taliban in Qatar and that both sides would reach an agreement.

A delegation from Kabul headed by chairman of High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR) is expected to travel to Qatar for talks with the Taliban in the next few days.

“No side can win by war. If an agreement is reached, this country a shared home of all of us and people would be no longer hurt. If they do not reach an agreement and continued war, then Afghanistan will go to the edge of a cliff that nor the Taliban and neither the government would be able to control,” he said.

He asked the Taliban not to continue the war but instead work for peace in the country. “If peace fails, Afghanistan will plunge into a false domestic war and face with unprecedented level of casualties,” he said.

On the other hand, AkramKhpalwak, a senior advisor to the president on political affairs who is also deputy head of HCNR, said that important issues about peace were usually kept hidden from people.

He said that any agreement reached in Qatar would be shared with the Afghan people so they also play their role regarding their future.

“National leadership should depend on the nation, if this principle is also agreed by the Taliban it would lead to a stable peace,” he said.

Khpalwak said that a real peace could not be established in the country until it lacked national and international guarantees. Any agreements between some coalitions or political parties would not help in absence of these guarantees, he added.

Meanwhile, Wahid Omar, another senior advisor to the president, said, “We will not reach a stable peace until we do not have a stable system.”

He termed survival of the country in survival of the system and said that the Taliban will not win and not rule the country. But the war will spread from street to street, home to home and will cause mass destruction and migration, he said.

Mds/ma

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