ISLAMABAD: Afghanistan鈥檚 chief peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah has said Pakistani leaders had 鈥榩romised鈥� during his three-day visit to Islamabad this week to help convince the Afghan Taliban to agree to a ceasefire, a major sticking point in ongoing negotiations between the insurgent group and the Kabul government aimed at ending decades of war. 
Taliban offensives in the war-torn country have continued even as Afghan and Taliban negotiators began meeting in Doha on September 12, hoping to agree on a ceasefire and a power-sharing deal. 
Pakistan has been considered key in pushing the Taliban to the table for talks, and both Kabul and Washington are now urging the South Asian nation to use its decades-long influence over the insurgent group to make them agree to more concessions. 
Relations between neighbors Pakistan and Afghanistan have long been marred by hostility, with both sides trading accusations that the other was a safe haven for cross-border militant activities.
In an interview with Arab News before leaving Islamabad on Wednesday evening, Abdullah, the chief of Afghanistan鈥檚 High Council for National Reconciliation, said civil and military leaders he met in Pakistan had agreed that the key to peace in Afghanistan was the Taliban agreeing to a 鈥渞eduction in violence, leading to a ceasefire.鈥�
鈥淚n our own discussions with all authorities, I found nobody having any doubt on that need,鈥� he said, referring to meetings with the Pakistani prime minister, army chief, foreign minister and other leaders. 鈥淭hey [Pakistan] promised that they will also try their own way ... use their positive influence in that regard.鈥�
鈥淚f they [Taliban] are too sensitive to the idea of ceasefire, there are lots of ways to reduce violence 鈥� Humanitarian cease-fire, significant reduction in violence leading to a cease-fire, is something that we need to start with,鈥� Abdullah added. 
At the talks in Doha, both sides have largely agreed to about 20 items on how the dialogue should be conducted, including committing to continue negotiations even when things get complicated on the battlefield. 
But the sides remain deadlocked over setting a process for negotiations, in part due to the Taliban insistence that the basis of the dialogue be the Doha Agreement, signed in February between the Taliban and the United States after talks that the insurgents refused to allow the Kabul government to be a part of. 
The deal promises a phased withdrawal of American troops in exchange for guarantees that the Taliban would reduce their attacks and no longer permit Afghanistan to serve as a haven for militant groups.

on Oct 1, 2020 at 9:12am PDT

鈥淲hy make this [Doha Agreement] such an issue that we have remained stuck in it?鈥� Abdullah asked. 鈥淥ur team has been advised and instructed to be flexible.鈥�
鈥淚f Taliban do not get more serious and do not show flexibility, that will affect the attitude of our team as well automatically, and then we might get to another impasse,鈥� Abdullah warned, saying it was a 鈥渂ig concern鈥� that the international community would lose interest in the peace process if the stalemate with the Taliban over the talks鈥� agenda was not resolved quickly. 

on Oct 1, 2020 at 10:10am PDT

The two teams are also stuck on which school of Islamic thought to use for resolving conflicts in post-war Afghanistan. While both sides mostly agree to adhering to the Hanafi school, one of the four major Sunni schools of jurisprudence that is the foundation of the current Afghan constitution, they have been unable to agree on a formula that does not alienate minority sects, especially Shias.
鈥淭oday鈥檚 Afghanistan needs to look back: do we use this diverse nature of our nation, different ethnicities, different languages, regions, socio-economic circumstances as a tool to fight forever over ruling,鈥� Abdullah said, 鈥渙r a means to find a way to add to the beauty of the country and to make it an energy for the country flourishing, in looking toward the future rather than getting stuck in the past?鈥�
He said the government team was open to the idea of engaging a mediator or a facilitator to break the current impasse, if the Taliban agreed to it.
鈥淚f it is needed that facilitators can help at one stage, we should quickly move without wasting time,鈥� he said, adding that both sides could decide together who the 鈥渞ight facilitator鈥� would be. 
Earlier this year, the peace process with the Taliban was threatened by another impasse, between Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani. Abdullah had disputed the results of an election last September and announced the formation of a parallel government, undermining Ghani鈥檚 administration at a time when the United States was trying to advance the peace process with the Taliban. 
In May, the two leaders finally signed a power-sharing deal to end the months-long political stalemate. 

on Oct 1, 2020 at 12:05pm PDT

When asked if him and Ghani were on the 鈥渟ame page鈥� on the ongoing negotiations with insurgents, Abdullah said: 鈥淔ind me two sisters or two brothers which are one hundred percent on the same page on all issues. But when it comes to peace, yes.鈥�
He added: 鈥淭he goal is peace, dignified durable peace, acceptable for the people of Afghanistan, without losing the gains of the past, which is the rights of the people, the values that we believe, the liberties, freedom of speech, women鈥檚 right, the right to vote and all of that. On those principles we [Ghani and Abdullah] think the same way.鈥�
When asked if he wished to be president in a future post-war government in Afghanistan, Abdullah said: 
鈥淢y focus is not on my own role, to be honest 鈥� The ultimate goal for me will be achieving peace in a country and for a nation which deserves it, which has suffered more than its share for the past 42 years. That鈥檚 my ultimate goal.鈥�