Doha hosts second round of talks between Kabul and the Taliban

The next round of talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government will take place in Qatar starting next month, a senior official announced on Sunday, despite recent calls by President Ashraf Ghani to transfer them to his country.

The peace talks began on September 12 at a luxury hotel in Doha, but are currently stalled until January 5.

“The second round of talks will begin on January 5 in Doha,” said Fereidoun Khwazoon, spokesman for the Supreme Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan, which is leading the peace process in the country.

He wrote on Twitter that “the council’s leadership committee … decided to hold the talks in Doha,” adding that many countries that had previously volunteered to host the negotiations had withdrawn their offers due to the new Corona virus.

In a separate statement, the Afghan presidency, bin Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, head of the council, tweeted a meeting on Sunday.

The presidency stated that officials discussed the location of the next round of talks, after which Ghani announced the government’s support for a second phase of talks with the Taliban.

And in early December, negotiators on both sides decided to take a break after months of often frustrating meetings bogged down by disagreements over the basic framework for religious discussions and interpretations.

Ghani and some senior Afghan officials called for the next round of negotiations to be held in Afghanistan.

“It is not appropriate to insist on having conversations in luxury hotels. People need to see how the conversations are taking place, what issues they are focusing on and why,” Ghani said shortly after announcing the suspension of the talks .

The Taliban did not comment on Ghani’s invitation, but they have always refused to negotiate in Afghanistan.

The movement has a political office in Doha and its negotiating team is based there.