Abdullah Abdullah
former Afghan foreign minister and candidate in the 2009 presidential elections
Kabul
30 September 2007
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai's latest offer of talks to the Taliban was heard above a deafening blast that claimed at least 25 lives in Kabul barely a few hours earlier. Few expect any dramatic upturn in the situation but in a country torn apart by incessant violence a
nd conflict for decades, no effort is enough.
Let us wait and watch, is the common refrain on Kabul's famous Chicken Street. President Karzai has made similar offers to the Taliban in the past but the outcome has been none too satisfactory. "We can only pray for peace," says Mirza, a carpet-seller, in between showing buyers the carpets, big and small.
British Defence Minister Des Browne has said that in Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away any more than he suspects Hamas is going away from Palestine but Dr Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister of Afghanistan, is not enthused.
Dr Abdullah says that negotiations cannot be held with people who continue their armed activities. "[They will] have to dissociate [from] terrorist activities and disarm," he told this newspaper in an interview. He is categorical that whoever is willing to talk to the government has to accept the Constitution of Afghanistan, which has been endorsed by the people of Afghanistan. "Of course," he adds as an afterthought, "if they want to have certain guarantees, assurances, this is something which could be negotiated but with those things continuing there is no negotiations and there should be no negotiations."
Let us wait and watch, is the common refrain on Kabul's famous Chicken Street. President Karzai has made similar offers to the Taliban in the past but the outcome has been none too satisfactory. "We can only pray for peace," says Mirza, a carpet-seller, in between showing buyers the carpets, big and small.
British Defence Minister Des Browne has said that in Afghanistan, at some stage, the Taliban will need to be involved in the peace process because they are not going away any more than he suspects Hamas is going away from Palestine but Dr Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister of Afghanistan, is not enthused.
Dr Abdullah says that negotiations cannot be held with people who continue their armed activities. "[They will] have to dissociate [from] terrorist activities and disarm," he told this newspaper in an interview. He is categorical that whoever is willing to talk to the government has to accept the Constitution of Afghanistan, which has been endorsed by the people of Afghanistan. "Of course," he adds as an afterthought, "if they want to have certain guarantees, assurances, this is something which could be negotiated but with those things continuing there is no negotiations and there should be no negotiations."
Dr Abdullah is one of the longest-serving foreign ministers of Afghanistan. He was replaced by Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta in March 2006. Dr Abdullah was the last major leader of the Northern Alliance in the Karzai Government after Defence Minister Mohammad Fahim and Interior Minister Yunis Qanuni were axed in 2004 in what was seen as an attempt by President Karzai, a Pashtun, to reduce the domination of the Northern Alliance in the government.
Dr Abdullah is equally critical of those who demand that the Internal Security Assistance Force (ISAF) should quit Afghanistan. "If today ISAF, the international forces pulls out then we are back in the old situation," he says. "Still we solely rely on the international forces in terms of overall stability." He hopes that the cooperation between India and Afghanistan will continue. "India's role," he adds, "is more than its traditional role which let's say two decades ago was expected in this region as well as worldwide as the largest democracy, as one of the thriving economies of our region and world power."
Indian Ambassador to Afghanistan Rakesh Sood is circumspect. "It's early .... I don't know if it (peace talks with Taliban) will happen .... It's not an easy thing to do because the internation
al community is not going to sit back and watch him (Karzai) make peace with Mullah Omar or Hekmatyar ... that's unlikely to happen ... as far as the international community is concerned these are people who are with whom you can't make peace because they are not working under the same reference frame of the Afghan Constitution and democracy and modern state and all the rest of it," he told this newspaper in an interview.
New Delhi revealed its mind last week when Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee told a high-level meeting co-chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New York that there was a "need for both a robust international political solution and a stronger internal military response". He sought to suggest that partial solutions will provide temporary relief and the world should not underestimate the ferocity of resurgence of the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
Mr Mukherjee later held a bilateral meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. They agreed on the centrality of the security issue, noting that it posed a significant challenge to the efforts of the international community thus far. Mr Mukherjee held another bilateral meeting with Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. There was a discussion on the international security situation, with particular reference to the situation in Afghanistan. They emphasised the importance of continued international cooperation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
New Delhi believes that the top leadership like Mullah Omar, which has close links with Al Qaeda, is unlikely to negotiate. Accordingly, it estimates that the Karzai Government stands a better chance of making progress by focussing on the lower rungs of the Taliban. There are about a couple of hundred people who have been ministers and deputy ministers in the Taliban regime. Some of them have already come back, like Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who used to be the foreign minister, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad during 2001, and commanders like Mulla Abdul Salam Rocketi. Then there are others to whom the label of Taliban has been attached because the West thinks they are orthodox. Many of them want to split because they see no future. They took to the gun merely because of ethnic or tribal linkages. Theese people might expect some kind of assurance that they will not be prosecuted or want positive incentives like assistance for resettlement.
New Delhi is also aware of a sizeable body of opinion who argue that because there has been much more fighting, there has been many more casualties on the Taliban side. It is estimated that about 3,200 to 3,300 people out of the 4,500 people killed were Taliban or militants. A similar number perished last year. "If Taliban [has] taken this kind of hits then according to some people the rank and file are seeing that this is too heavy a cost and therefore would like to return to their own country," said a source. "Because Taliban are weak, they want to come back and this is the time to drive a wedge to separate the top leadership which is very closely linked to Al Qaeda because those guys are you can't negotiate with them, so you separate them, so it weakens them... it's difficult but Karzai he has taken this public posture," the source added.
New Delhi revealed its mind last week when Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee told a high-level meeting co-chaired by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai in New York that there was a "need for both a robust international political solution and a stronger internal military response". He sought to suggest that partial solutions will provide temporary relief and the world should not underestimate the ferocity of resurgence of the Taliban and other terrorist groups.
Mr Mukherjee later held a bilateral meeting with Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. They agreed on the centrality of the security issue, noting that it posed a significant challenge to the efforts of the international community thus far. Mr Mukherjee held another bilateral meeting with Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Mr Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. There was a discussion on the international security situation, with particular reference to the situation in Afghanistan. They emphasised the importance of continued international cooperation in the reconstruction of Afghanistan.
New Delhi believes that the top leadership like Mullah Omar, which has close links with Al Qaeda, is unlikely to negotiate. Accordingly, it estimates that the Karzai Government stands a better chance of making progress by focussing on the lower rungs of the Taliban. There are about a couple of hundred people who have been ministers and deputy ministers in the Taliban regime. Some of them have already come back, like Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil, who used to be the foreign minister, Mullah Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad during 2001, and commanders like Mulla Abdul Salam Rocketi. Then there are others to whom the label of Taliban has been attached because the West thinks they are orthodox. Many of them want to split because they see no future. They took to the gun merely because of ethnic or tribal linkages. Theese people might expect some kind of assurance that they will not be prosecuted or want positive incentives like assistance for resettlement.
New Delhi is also aware of a sizeable body of opinion who argue that because there has been much more fighting, there has been many more casualties on the Taliban side. It is estimated that about 3,200 to 3,300 people out of the 4,500 people killed were Taliban or militants. A similar number perished last year. "If Taliban [has] taken this kind of hits then according to some people the rank and file are seeing that this is too heavy a cost and therefore would like to return to their own country," said a source. "Because Taliban are weak, they want to come back and this is the time to drive a wedge to separate the top leadership which is very closely linked to Al Qaeda because those guys are you can't negotiate with them, so you separate them, so it weakens them... it's difficult but Karzai he has taken this public posture," the source added.
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