48 hours to hold US-Taliban peace agreement signing ceremony

The US-Taliban peace agreement signing ceremony has been scheduled to occur in 48 hours in Doha city of Qatar.

The participants of the ceremony will be foreign ministers from 30 countries and representatives of the United Nation.

The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has appreciated the role of Qatar in facilitating and hosting the peace negotiation.

The Afghan government, however, does not address whether it has been invited to the ceremony.

Earlier today, Timothy Weeks, an AUAF professor who had been taken captive by the Taliban for about 3 years, arrived in Doha and has been welcomed by Annas Haqqani.

Pugwash’s former director Khalil Safi says, “The foreign ministers of 30 countries and the UN representatives and a proportion of politicians and civil activists from Afghanistan are also invited to participate in the ceremony.”

Russia and Pakistan have declared their preparation in order to participate in the event. Pakistan’s foreign minister said that without their cooperation, progress in the peace talks would not be possible.

Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mohammad Qureshi said that it was a new window they were looking through. He added that he was invited to participate in the event of 29 February to finalize the US-Taliban talks, noting that they are here because they don’t want to be considered a barrier. The progress was impossible without Pakistan’s cooperation – to conclude it with results is a work of the Afghans themselves, he said

Taliban says that the Afghan government has not been invited to the agreement-signing ceremony. The Afghan government also has not stated on the matter.

Sources, on the other hand, say that Qatar’s special representative for Afghanistan has invited a proportion of politicians and civil activists in order to participate in the event.

Reportedly, the US-Taliban peace agreement is scheduled to be signed Saturday, February the 29^th.