Peace council leaders meet to discuss new US proposal

The Leadership Committee of the High Council for National Reconciliation (HCNR) met on Sunday afternoon to discuss Washington’s new peace plan and the planned Moscow and Turkey peace summits.

First Vice President Amrullah Saleh; Second Vice President Sarwar Danish, National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib, former President Hamid Karzai; President Ashraf Ghani’s Senior Advisor Mohammad Mohaqiq; former Jihadi leader Abdul Rasul Sayyaf; Chief Executive of Jamiat-e-Islami Party Atta Mohammad Noor, and a number of other prominent politicians attended the meeting.

Abdullah Abdullah, Chairman of the HCNR stated: “We discussed the peace process, the new US proposal, the upcoming peace conferences in Moscow and Turkey, and the latest political developments in the country.”

“We reiterated our full support for the peace efforts, called for a just political settlement and an immediate end to violence,” Abdullah tweeted.

Abdullah said the Leadership Committee of the HCNR has also expressed its support for further regional and international coordination.

This comes after the US proposed the new peace plan for Afghanistan earlier this month and suggested the establishment of a transitional government and a high-level summit in Turkey.

Meanwhile, Russia has also invited the Afghan government, the Taliban, and representatives from a number of foreign countries to attend a conference on the Afghan peace process in Moscow.

Russian Special Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov told Russian news outlets that all the participants invited to attend the Moscow peace meeting next week have confirmed their attendance.

The Russia-backed Moscow summit is scheduled for March 18, while the US-backed peace conference will be held in Turkey in April.