Representatives of the Afghan government and Taliban are set to meet again for the second round of peace talks on Friday, senior Pakistan government officials said. The meeting to be held in the hill resort of Murree just outside Pakistan’s federal capital of Islamabad would be more substantive, raising hopes of a viable peace process to end the conflict in Afghanistan, the officials said. An official, who requested he be not named “out of deference to our friends from Kabul”, said: “It is an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace initiative. We are here to facilitate.”With direct knowledge of the meeting, he said the second round would be more substantive and detailed. “The fact that the two sides are re-convening in less than a month is encouraging. It is a big success,” the official said. “But let’s not be over ambitious. Let’s not raise the expectations bar too high,” cautioned another official, who also requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. “This is just the beginning of a long process. Both sides will have to understand each other’s positions and make a determined effort to meet half way,” he said. Though the second round of talks is in place the fact is that The fate of future talks between the Afghan Taliban and the government of that country hangs in the balance due to a growing row between the current leader of the Afghan Taliban, Akhtar Muhammad Mansoor, and those who oppose his leadership. These opponents back Mullah Muhammad Yaqoob, the son of Mullah Omar as the man best suited to take over the leadership of the Afghan Taliban. Yaqoob, 26, graduated recently from a seminary in Karachi. The ongoing rivalry within the Afghan Taliban could have important regional repercussions. If there is no settlement between the militants and the government in Kabul, we could see growing insurgency, especially after Nato forces pull out over the coming months. There is clearly more and more hostility to these talks within Taliban ranks. The problems have grown since Mansoor sent a delegation to Murree to speak with Afghan government officials there. A press release regarding the talks being apparently endorsed by Mullah Omar was released after this meeting on the occasion of Eidul Fitr.Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that Mullah Omar’s own fate is uncertain. Reports suggest he may have died some two years ago. His family strongly backs Yaqoob as his successor. But this rift within the Taliban makes it extremely difficult to reach any kind of settlement in Afghanistan and end the civil war that continues in that country. The arrival of Yaqoob on the scene would also reestablish the Mullah Omar branch of the Taliban as the head of the strong Afghan faction of the group and also strengthen its hold over the Pakistani Taliban with which Mullah Omar has always retained well-established links. The developments we are now seeing are then important for many reasons. How they will all pan out is as yet uncertain.
pk.shafaqna.com
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