KABUL, March 5: Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai says he is optimistic that intra-Afghan peace negotiations, tentatively scheduled for next week, can bring stability to Afghanistan, but he does not rule out the possibility of an interim government with Taliban representatives.
The proposed peace talks, involving all Afghan parties to the conflict, are due to start on March 10, following a US-Taliban agreement reached in Qatar last week.
Karzai said in an interview with Arab News at his residence in Kabul over the weekend that he is fully supportive of the US-led peace initiative and all efforts to end Afghan hostilities.
“That is a very good step. We fully appreciated, wanted and liked it. We hope whatever is signed is for the good of the country, for peace for stability, for unity, and for a strong (Afghan) government,” he said. Karzai said he believes the intra-Afghan talks may come to a resolution quickly, as compared with the US-Taliban agreement which took long months. He also did not rule out the possibility of an interim government emerging from the Afghan-Taliban dialogue amid the current post-presidential election crisis in Afghanistan. -Agencies
