Taliban demands removal from blacklists to join peace talks

Political analyst Waheed Muzhda, who was an official in the Taliban’s 1996-2001 administration, said the conference would not discuss the peace process but would instead focus on “current circumstances in Afghanistan”.

The group issued a statement following Pagwash Conference held from 23rd to 25th January in Doha, the capital city of Qatar.

“Establishment of official venue for the Islamic Emirate; removal of blacklist and prize list; release of prisoners and ending poisonous propaganda are among the preliminary steps needed for peace”.

“Hopefully by tomorrow we will know if they want peace and if so what their conditions are”, Ahady told Reuters. The latest demands are not a sign that the “Taliban are willing to join talks anytime soon”. The militant group emphasized a hardline stance on talks aimed at ending its 14-year insurgency, ruling out negotiations until Taliban preconditions were met.

Also on Sunday, the Taliban said their “political office” in Qatar was the only entity authorised to carry out negotiations on its behalf, reinforcing the authority of the man who took control of the group amid a tussle over command following the death of long-time leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

The Afghan Taliban will participate in the ongoing peace talks only if their conditions, which include the removal of their members from a United Nations blacklist, are met, the armed group’s representatives have said.

In 2010 Afghanistan said the United Nations had agreed to remove some Taliban members who renounced ties to Al Qaeda from the U.N. blacklist on a “gradual” basis to try and help Afghan efforts to engage some insurgents in talks.

“Any pre-conditions could further delay the reconciliation process”, HPC official Aminuddin Muzaffari told AFP. But it shut a month later after enraging the then-Afghan president Hamid Karzai by styling itself as the unofficial embassy for a government-in-exile.

However, despite the push, the Taliban have ramped up violence across Afghanistan.

The Doha talks marked a rare direct interaction between the Taliban and Afghan lawmakers and civil society members amid an worldwide push to revive talks.

The first round of the so-called “roadmap” talks was held in Islamabad earlier this month in a bid to lay the groundwork for direct dialogue between Kabul and the Islamist group.

Earlier this week, Taliban militants targeted employees of the Tolo news channel – a Deutsche Welle media partner – killing seven people when a suicide bomber targeted their vehicle.