Abdullah slams Taliban for ignoring calls to participate in peace talks

Afghanistan's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah has hit out at the Taliban for its lackadaisical attitude towards the peace talks initiated by the Afghan government.

Hitting out at the group's hardline approach towards the Afghan government, Abdullah clarified that the people of the country were not in favour of the Taliban's style of governance or to see them back in power.

"Taliban are asking for Islamic Emirate which is a different type of ruling, like the religious scholars, are getting together and appointing an Amir (Emire) so everybody could be obedient to that type of system while we embarked upon a different system," TOLOnews quoted Abdullah as saying while participating in a panel discussion at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday.

He underlined that despite repeated calls for Taliban to participate in the Afghan-led peace process, they did not pay heed and has been one of the key obstacles affecting the peace talks by the Afghan government in a bid to end the nearly two-decades-long war in the country.

"The fundamental obstacle has been the Taliban have refused at times, in most recently as well to sit together directly with the Afghan government to talk and discuss the issues including the concept of governance, including the issue of withdrawal of American troops or NATO, what they say is that we talk to the Americans about the troops withdrawal and we will try to be more inclusive when we rule again, I think that is the main obstacle. But by sitting around the table, one can find ways because they also have a stake in peace," Abdullah elaborated.

The Afghan CEO clarified further that the Ghani administration did not set any pre-conditions for the peace talks.

In a veiled reference to Pakistan, Abdullah warned certain countries in the region against supporting terrorism, saying that such an approach "will harm those who provide sanctuaries to them".

This comes after the Afghan Taliban recently participated in peace talks in Qatar with the US, led by its special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad. During the deliberations, the Taliban reassured Washington that Kabul will never be used against any other country in the future.