Second Round of Intra-Afghan Dialogue to Be Held After Eid

The preparations are underway for holding the second round of intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha, the capital of Qatar, sources familiar with the peace talks said on Saturday.

In addition, the Afghan government, politicians, and the Taliban are expected to introduce their list of delegates.

“The government, the Taliban, and politicians are going to independently propose lists of their delegates, and a board in Qatar will select the participants of the intra-Afghan dialogue,” said Sayed Akbar Agha, a former Taliban official.

The intra-Afghan dialogue will take place before the seventh round of direct talks between the U.S. and the Taliban, and its result will be discussed in the seventh round of US-Taliban talks.

“When the timetable of U.S. troops withdrawal from Afghanistan cleared, there will be opportunities for the intra-Afghan dialogue,” said Mawlawi Qalamuddin, another former Taliban official.

Meanwhile, the office of Afghanistan’s Chief Executive said that the consultations are ongoing regarding the composition of Afghan government delegates.

According to the sources, the Taliban are not ready to accept the Afghan government as one side of the intra-Afghan dialogue.

However, a number of Afghan politicians believe that without direct talks between the Taliban and the government, no other dialogue can have a positive result.

“If the Taliban does not wish to negotiate with the government, so no summit can have a positive result for peace,” said Iqbal Safi, an MP from Kapisa province.

This comes as the intra-Afghan peace dialogue in Doha was supposed to take place in April but the Summit canceled after disagreements over the lengthy list of government was introduced.