Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani has urged the Taliban to “reduce escalation and cease fire.”
The country’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday that Al Thani conveyed his position in a meeting with the head of the Taliban’s Political Bureau, Mullah Abdul Ghani Barader, and his accompanying delegation in Doha.
“Last week, Doha hosted an expanded international meeting on Afghanistan, which culminated in the participants agreeing on a set of positions, including the need to accelerate the peace process, negotiate concrete proposals from the Afghan sides, work to build confidence, stop violence between the two sides, and respect international law. Not to recognize any government in Afghanistan that is imposed through the use of military force,” the ministry added in its statement.
The statement followed talks in Doha on Thursday between Taliban representatives and Afghan government officials, along with envoys from the United States, China, Pakistan, the UN, the European Union, among others.