Politicians, Jihadi Leaders Call for National Consensus on Peace Process

Afghan politicians and former Jihadi leaders, who gathered in the Loya Jirga tent in Kabul to marked the fifth death anniversary of Marshal Mohammad Qasim Fahim on Saturday, called for national consensus on the peace process.

Marshal Fahim, who was a prominent Jihadi leader and served as vice president during former President Hamid Karzai’s government.  He died of a heart attack on 09th of March 2014.  His death anniversary is marked every year.  

Marking the death anniversary of Marshal Fahim, the politicians who gathered along with hundreds of their supporters in Loya Jirga tent in Kabul, stressed on the ongoing peace process with the Taliban.

Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said that peace is an important issue and that political leaders should to come together and work for national interests and sustainable peace.  

“We should ease the process and open the door of peace so that our people live in peace,” he said.

At the event, former President Hamid Karzai said that  Afghan people are supporting the ongoing efforts by the U.S. for Afghan peace. 

He stressed that all of U.S. led peace efforts are in coordination with government and jihadi leaders.

“In Moscow, we have witnessed that I was not alone, all of [the politicians] were there, we and government leaders are trying so that the peace efforts be successful,” Karzai said.

Former Jihadi leader Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, however, said that he is supporting the ongoing peace efforts if it leads to dignified peace and preservation of past years’ achievements.

Mohammad Karim Khalili, head of the High Peace Council, meanwhile, said that  Afghanistan will not go back to a “Taliban emirate”, adding that Afghans want peace with dignity.

He stressed that peace cannot be ensured in the country unless “we give something to receive something in return.”