Hanafi to lead Afghan delegation in Moscow

KABUL: The Islamic Emirate has said the second deputy of the prime minister, Abdul Salam Hanafi, would lead the delegation set to attend the Moscow meeting this week.

A spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Inamullah Samangani, said that the Islamic Emirate would take advantage of the Moscow conference and attempt to engage in legitimate relations with the world countries as soon as possible.

“A high-level delegation of the Islamic Emirate government of Afghanistan, led by Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy of prime minister, will participate in the Moscow conference,” he said.

“(They) will hold talks on various issues related to Afghanistan with the representatives of different countries. Of course, we should wait for further details, as the format of the conference is yet to be decided.” Moscow will host a conference on the Afghan situation this Wednesday in Moscow. Former diplomat Aziz Miraj said, “The Taliban’s invitation by Moscow, and the organization of a summit there ... will have a very big influence on the situation at the international level, and it may even drag Afghanistan out of isolation because Russia is a powerful country in the world and is one of the opponent countries of NATO and West.” A source close to Abdullah Abdullah, former chairman of the high council for national reconciliation, said that former president, Hamid Karzai and Abdullah were also invited to the conference.

But the Russian tweeted that the news of either Karzai or Abdullah attending was not true. Mehdi Afzali, an international relations analyst, said: “(If) the political groups or factions of the Taliban are gathered in a mutual circle in which, they accept to work on an inclusive state and take advantage of the political opponents as well, thus the collapse and vacuum of power will be tackled, and this meeting could be in the interest of Afghanistan.” The Moscow conference is the first official conference on the Afghan situation following the collapse of the former government.