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                 Afghanistan Wants 'Red Lines' in Peace Process

   by Ayesha Tanzeem

   Afghanistan Minister of Foreign Affairs Salahuddin Rabbani, in his
   opening statement Monday to a meeting of delegates of Unites States,
   China, Pakistan, and Afghanistan in Kabul, emphasized the need for "red
   lines" for an effective road map to peace in Afghanistan.

   Hinting at the need for reduction in violence in Afghanistan by the
   Taliban groups, Rabbani emphasized that the Afghan public would not
   support an "open-ended process without tangible results."

   This is the second meeting of what is formally called the Quadrilateral
   Coordination Group of Afghanistan - formed to help bring an end to war
   in Afghanistan. The first meeting was held in Islamabad last week.

   'Call for peace'

   Rabbani also called on all Taliban groups to "accept our call for peace
   through dialogue." So far none of the Taliban groups have indicated a
   willingness to engage in the process.

   An earlier round of peace talks with the Taliban in July stalled after
   indications that their leader Mullah Omar had died. Their new leader,
   Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, faced internal challenges to his authority
   leading to an increase in violence in Afghanistan.

   The Afghan government expects Pakistan to use its influence with
   Taliban groups, whose leaders are reportedly in Pakistan, to bring the
   level of violence down, and to use force against groups that refuse to
   come to the table for negotiations.

   Pakistan says that its influence with the Taliban is "limited" and the
   use of force would be counterproductive until all other measures have
   been exhausted.

   "Threat of the use of military action against irreconcilables [those
   unwilling to talk] cannot precede the offer of talks to all the groups
   and their response to such offers," said Sartaj Aziz, adviser to
   Pakistan's prime minister on foreign affairs, in his opening statement
   to the first QCG meeting.

   Trust deficit

   The presence of the United States and China in the process is supposed
   to help with the trust deficit between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

   However, the Taliban control more territory today in Afghanistan than
   they did anytime after they were ousted from power in 2001. This makes
   it more difficult to convince them to enter peace negotiations with an
   Afghan government that seems to be on the defensive.

   Messages left by Taliban leaders on their websites or social media
   accounts had called last week's QCG meeting "useless."

   On the eve of the latest round of discussions, the Taliban accused the
   U.S. of derailing peace efforts by re-engaging their combat troops in
   Helmand.

   Taliban demands

   The Taliban also insisted that nothing less than the withdrawal of all
   foreign forces and implementation of Islamic Shariah will be acceptable
   to them.

   They have also recently started calling President Ashraf Ghani's
   government a "stooge" of the U.S.

   This is a reversion to the Taliban's position during the time of former
   Afghan President Hamid Karzai and can be termed a hardening of their
   stance against the current government.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/afghanistan-wants-red-lines-in-peace-
   process/3150794.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/afghanistan-wants-red-lines-in-peace-process/3150794.html