New statement from the Islamic Emirate of Aghanistan’s Zabīh Allah Mujāhid: “Clarification Concerning the Postponement of the Qatar Conference”

An intra-Afghan conference was scheduled to take place on the 20th and 21st April in the Qatari capital of Doha but has now been cancelled.

We deem it necessary to make the following clarification:

1 – A decision was made during the Moscow conference on 6th of February that a similar conference will again be held in Qatar.

The Islamic Emirate is still committed to that policy and pledge of an identical conference being held; rather the Islamic Emirate went a step further by agreeing to allow an even larger number of male and female compatriots to attend when compared to the Moscow conference.

It was agreed that all participants of the conference shall declare their own personal views regarding the Afghan issue however the Kabul administration officials launched efforts to introduce this conference as a negotiation’s meetings between the Kabul administration and the Islamic Emirate, a position in conflict with the policy of the conference.

2 – All participants attended the Moscow conference in a personal capacity and the upcoming Qatar conference was also planned with similar guidelines from the very first day.

Both the hosts of the conference and Qatar made it clear and even stipulated this point in the invitation letters that all individuals shall partake in personal capacity but the head of Kabul administration (Ashraf Ghani and another official Umar Daudzai) repeatedly held press conferences and declared that members selected by them shall participate as representatives of the Kabul administration, a clear attempt at sabotaging this conference and peace efforts.

3 – Just as all the arrangements for the conference were finalized, the Kabul administration officials launched their own bizarre meetings inside the Arg palace, announcing their red lines and conditions, claiming host status for the conference, filing and publicizing a participant list not only ill-suited for the conference site and situation but also having not chance of being accepted. And the strangest of all was the publication of this list before even sharing or reaching an understanding or agreement with the conference hosts, deliberately creating turmoil.

4 – At a time when the policy of the Islamic Emirate is absolutely clear that the initial stage of the negotiations process shall resolve the foreign aspect of the issue – meaning the complete withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan as dialogue with the powerless and crumbling Kabul administration is a waste of time.

But even with this policy, over thirty Kabul administration peace council and other officials were accommodated in the Qatar conference and majority of the list was comprised of current and former members and supporters of the Kabul administration partaking in a personal capacity whereas only twenty five members of the Islamic Emirate were to be part of the conference. Yet the Kabul administration still insisted on a 250 member lopsided list which was an inappropriate undertaking.

5 – The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan reassures its oppressed nation and the world that the Islamic Emirate has made use of absolute patience. The Political Office and Negotiation Team headed by the respected Mullah Baradar Akhund worked day and night, exercised self-restraint and showed flexibility in policy to the highest level; but since Kabul administration officials and secret circles created obstacles for this effort therefore its responsibility also falls upon their shoulders. The Help of Allah and support of nation shall remain with us and the enemies of peace shall themselves come to understand that they miscalculated and were wrong.

6 – In the end we thank all individuals and parties especially the distinguished Qatari officials, officials of Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies and sincere peace activities inside the country who aided in this process and tried their best till the very end, may Allah (SwT) reward them for their efforts, specifically those who prepared themselves for the conference.