So far, all Attempts have failed, but on this Sunday, representatives of the Taliban and the Afghan government should meet, to talk about the future. Germany has prepared the Meeting in Doha.
The list of invited participants is a big secret. “The German Embassy keeps you under lock and key and has told all participants that they should not comment on this,” commented an observer from Kabul with a wink. Also in Berlin, there is no information about the names. In April, an attempt at mediation had failed at the last Moment, because there was a dispute about the list of participants, which was swollen at the end of around 250 names.
A purely private trip to Doha
Now only about 60 people should be on the top secret list: selected men and women from all Parts of society and from all Parts of the country – but not a former or current presidential candidate, as it is called. The political Elite of Afghanistan is mired in a lot of internal power. There are ethnic conflicts. In addition, it is planned for the end of September of a presidential election. It should be prevented that the Doha as the stage is being abused – either to conduct election campaign or to torpedo the election, because their own Power is in danger.
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Afghanistan: The endless war and its victims
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Afghanistan: The endless war and its victims
“Germany and Qatar, have issued joint invitations to the Afghan participants, which only participate in their personal capacity and on an equal footing,” said Germany’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Markus Potzel, in a statement. From Kabul can be heard from Parts of the government camp, it is only the second series.
A point of victory for the Taliban: they refuse to negotiate with representatives of the Afghan government officially. “The participants of the conference will only share your personal views on how the Afghan conflict can be ended through a peaceful solution. You will be represented no government or organization”, emphasizes Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen, opposite the Deutsche Welle.
“We need to speak with the enemy”
The parties to the conflict to entertain discreet and unofficial contacts with the Taliban, it is important to claim that they do not negotiate with the Afghan government, which they consider a “corrupt puppet” of the West. Shaheen compares the planned round in Doha with two meetings, the last in Moscow. There, representatives of the Taliban in February and in may with Ex-President Hamid Karzai and several political opponents of the incumbent President, Ashraf Ghani sat together. Tangible results it gave.
Sima Samar, Chairperson of the Afghan human rights Commission
Sima Samar is one of the personalities who did not receive the invitation to Doha. She is the Head of the Afghan human rights Commission, and she was the first woman Minister of Afghanistan. “There is no military solution, we need to speak with the enemy,” she says of the German wave. Also Samar does not know the names of the participants. “Who goes – it is the beginning of the process.”
Germany has chartered a plane to bring the Delegation from Kabul to Doha. In the capital of the Emirate of Qatar, the Taliban maintain a political office. In Doha they are currently negotiating with the USA about the conditions for an Afghan peace.
Return to the God state?
In the centre of the discussions, four core elements are: The United States is demanding a clear commitment of the Taliban, that Afghanistan is never again a safe haven for terrorists. In addition, the weapons are silent, durable, and the Taliban to resume direct negotiations with the Afghan government.
The Americans want to pull off after 18 years of war as quickly as possible from Afghanistan. It is their longest war. More than 2400 US soldiers have been killed. President Trump pushes the pace. He’s fighting for his re-election, a deduction would be in the war-weary country.
Under the Taliban, women were banned from public life. In Doha, women should sit at the negotiating table
The radical Islamists, for their part, demand the unconditional withdrawal of all international troops. They reject the Afghan state that emerged after the American invasion of soon to 18 years of age. They see themselves as the legitimate representatives of the Afghan people. Your goal: the return to a fundamentalist theocracy. Give yourself a self-confident, because they control about half the country – as much as never before since the American invasion.
Closed Afghan society
The intra-Afghan summit, Germany, organized with the help of Qatar, will help to pave the long road to peace. It was a success would be, if this meeting ever comes about, even if it ends after a few minutes, it’s in Berlin. As soon as it goes off in Doha, is to be Afghans in the room. With the only exception of a German Mediator, the Berlin-based Berghof Foundation. The independent organization is specialized in the mediation of conflicts.
“Germany will be a good host, if it withdraws its troops from Afghanistan,” says Taliban spokesman Shaheen of the German wave. “But at the same time, we welcome all efforts aimed at ending the ongoing war in Afghanistan and the presence of foreign troops in the country.” Germany currently has stationed about 1300 soldiers in Afghanistan and, according to the United States, the second-largest number of troops.
Bundeswehr soldiers in Afghanistan
A voice for the victims
The situation in Afghanistan is complicated. “It will take a lot of time to create peace”, warns human rights activist Sima Samar. They observed the American impatience with concern. The Afghans have a total of four decades of war – including the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1979, and the cruel civil war of the 1990s that brought the Taliban to Power.
The Western Intervention under the leadership of the USA after the terrorist attacks of September 11. September 2001 is only the latest Chapter. And other countries have their own interests in the Region – such as Pakistan, India, Iran, China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. All want to be involved in Afghanistan-talks.
“We need to involve especially the victims of the conflict”, calls for Sima Samar. In Afghanistan, decades had been a long war crimes and crimes against humanity committed with impunity. “We need to be very careful that the culture of impunity is not maintained.”
31. May 2017 in Kabul: This man survived the attack on the German Embassy in Kabul, in which at least 150 people were killed
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), the British University of Sussex has documented for the year 2018, more than 41,000 civilian and military deaths. Thus, the Afghanistan cases, along-the war in the last year, the deadliest conflict, with almost as many reported deaths in Syria and Yemen.
The violence has not abated this year. If now in Doha for the first Time, representatives of the Afghan government in a private property with representatives of the Taliban, talk about the future, not to mention the weapons in Afghanistan. As the Meeting at the 1. July was announced, exploded in Kabul a car bomb. The Taliban confessed to the fatal attack.