(THE KABUL TIMES): As US and Taliban are close to reach final result in 9th round of talks, Afghanistan presidential spokesperson says Taliban should make use of the opportunity and talk to Afghanistan government to end the ongoing war in the country. Speaking to journalists in a news conference, Sediq Sediqi, a spokesperson to President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said Taliban have no other way to survive and get into a political life except to talk to Afghanistan government. “Taliban will make a big mistake if they lose the opportunity and insist on avoiding talks with Afghanistan government,” Sediqi said, adding that the Afghan government will enter to negotiations from a strong political and military position; therefore, the Taliban must accept this fact. He said that talking to the Taliban group did not mean Afghanistan government was weak, but the aim was to bring peace to the country. In the meantime, the presidential spokesperson said that Afghanistan government had no need to accept demands of the group as the group could not stand against 30 million Afghans, adding that the Afghan side would strongly defend the republic system in case of starting the intra-Afghan dialogue with the group. He assured the Afghan people that the interests of the people, the values achieved over the past 18 years will be protected during the intra-Afghan talks. Based on reports, US and Taliban are close to reach a final agreement as the ninth round of talks between the two sides are still going on in Doha, capital city of Qatar. So far, the exact time and location for signing peace agreement between US and Taliban has not been declared, but is said that the issue will be clarified after US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad shares results of the peace talks with Afghanistan government. Sources have said that intra-Afghan dialogue will begin soon after US and Taliban reach a final agreement and officially sign the peace agreement. In the intra-Afghan dialogue, Taliban and the Afghan side will discuss permanent ceasefire, roadmap for future of Afghanistan, women rights and the country’s constitution. Meanwhile, US state Secretary Mike Pompeo in his recent remarks stressed on US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, saying that the US was determined to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan. Addressing comrades and veterans at the American Legion’s 101st National Convention in Washington on Tuesday, Mr. Pompeo said no one knows how the peace and reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan will end. “America has never sought a permanent military presence in Afghanistan. And all sides recognize the time to move on. So for a year and continuing today we continue to work to get clear-eyed engagement with all Afghans. We don’t know how these efforts towards peace and reconciliation will end but President Trump is committed to making sure that we get it right,” Mr. Pompeo said. This comes after US President Donald Trump in sideline of G7 meeting in France said that there was no timetable for US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. On the other hand, Afghan officials have considered presence of foreign forces in Afghanistan as a need, stressing that the issue of US troop withdrawal should be assessed within the framework of mutual agreements between the two countries.
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