Conference on Afghan peace to begin in Saudi Arabia

The international Muslim scholars conference on peace and stability in Afghanistan is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Saudi Arabia.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will host the conference in Jeddah and Makkah Cities on July 10 and 11.

Delegations from 57 Islamic countries will take part in the two-day conference to discuss the role of scientists in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan and Islam’s position on terrorism and violent extremism.

Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) on Monday expressed hope that the conference would help in the launch of direct talks with the Taliban insurgent group.

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Peace activists extend sit-in protest outside U.S. embassy ‘indefinitely’

The peace activists from Helmand march on Saturday stressed that they will continue their sit-in protest outside the U.S. embassy in Kabul for an unknown time as the activists yet to receive their letter’s response from UNAMA.

The Helmand peace convoy members who launched their sit-in protest near the U.S. embassy on Wednesday are now aiming to place their demands in form a letter to the United States Congress.

“We yet to the response of our letter from UNAMA,” said Iqbal Khyber, head of the peace convoy. “We will try to maintain contacts with the U.S. people and Congress. We have set up a team in the United States and the regulation defines that the protesters should inform the [U.S.] government of their move 10 days earlier.”

Expressing concerns regarding the health condition of their fellows, the members of the peace convoy said that they are shifting at least their two members to hospitals every day.

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Saudi Arabia to host Islamic Conference on Afghan peace

High Peace Council (HPC) officials on Tuesday reported that Saudi Arabia is expected to host a conference of Islamic scholars on peace in Afghanistan.

The two day conference will be held in the Saudi cities of Jeddah and Mecca and religious scholars are expected to announce their stance on the war in Afghanistan in a declaration. The conference is expected to be convened in a month’s time.

“When the war in Afghanistan is declared as a prohibited act in the view of religion, then the Taliban must show acceptance to the proposed peace package,” said HPC spokesman Sayed Ehsan Tahiri.

Meanwhile, US ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass has said that President Ashraf Ghani’s recent peace offer to the Taliban provides an opportunity to the group to respond positively.

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Tashkent to Hold Peace Summit On Afghanistan

Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani will open a high-level international conference on Afghanistan – “Peace Process, Cooperation in the Sphere of Security and Regional Interaction” – in Tashkent later this month, Uzbekistan’s media reported.

According to uzdaily.com, the conference will take place on March 26 and 27, and will be held in the country’s capital Tashkent.

High-ranking officials are expected to attend including UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres and the UN Special Envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, as well as the foreign ministers of China, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, India, Iran, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, uzdaily.com reported.

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EU сalls on Taliban to accept Afghanistan peace offer

The European Union (EU) has called on the armed Taliban group to consider the Afghan government’s peace offer and start peace-talks.

“The message I want to pass to them is, please consider this offer. We as European Union encourage you to seize that offer and to start a discussion. We support the dialogue,” said Roland Kobia, the EU Special Envoy for Afghanistan.

Roland Kobia at the end of Kabul Process Conference emphasized on long-term continuation of European countries cooperation with Afghanistan.

The EU is said to believe that war is not the solution for Afghanistan’s crisis and prevents peace.

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Karzai urges government to halt further execution of militants

The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has urged the Afghan government to halt further execution of the prisoners charged with the terror offences.

In an online statement issued following the death of Taliban supreme leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor, Karzai has said ‘brotherhood’ and ‘unity’ are the only way to achieve peace in the country.

The statement by Karzai further added that war and violence have been imposed on the Afghan people from abroad, insisting that the Taliban statement proves that the group’s leader Mullah Akhtar Mansoor was killed on the side of Durand Line in control of Pakistan.

He called on the new leader of the Taliban group Mawlavi Haibatullah Akhundzada to join peace process and return to Afghanistan.

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