Taliban say talks with Afghan civil society ‘constructive’

KABUL: The Islamic Emirate said that the talks with the representatives of the Afghan civil society held on Sunday in Norway’s capital Oslo were “constructive.”

A joint statement of the one-day summit among the Afghans issued by the Islamic Emirate, said that the participants “recognized” the only path for resolving the existing Afghan problems is understanding and cooperation.

“The participants of the meeting recognized that understanding and joint cooperation are the only solutions to all the problems of Afghanistan,” Islamic Emirate’s Spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said. “All the participants, with one voice, declared such meetings to be in the interest of the country.” The venue of the talks was the Soria Moria hotel and conference center.

The closed-door meeting was attended by seven women’s rights defenders, seven politicians and a high-profile journalist as well as the 15-member delegation of the Islamic Emirate. The women representatives attended the summit included Mahbooba Saraj, Huda Khamosh, Gul Ghotai Jasor, Masouda Karokhel, Shah Gul Rezai, Jamila Afghan.

The seven politicians were Sayed Ishaq Gailani, Hilaluddin Hilal, Abdul Karim Khuram, Jafar Mahdawi, Amin Ahmad, Ismail Ghazanfar and Khan Aqa Ziarmal. Lotfullah Najafizada of TOLOnews represented the Afghan media community at the Oslo summit.

“It was a constructive discussion. There were some shared opinions over the prolonging of political talks among the Afghan society,” said Abdul Latif Nazari, a member of the Islamic Emirate delegation. Former president Hamid Karzai praised the Oslo summit meeting held between Afghans and said the only way toward peace and stability is with intra-Afghan understanding that reflects the will of the people.

“There were people representing the Afghan civil society at the (Oslo) meeting who support the Islamic Emirate government in Afghanistan but they attended on behalf of the Afghan civil community,” said Sayed Javad Hussieni, head of the Hezb-e-Adalat wa Tawsi-a. “The content of the resolution was short. It (meeting) was focused on the points which reflect the will of all Afghans,” said Toriq Farhadi, a political analyst.