Don't Need Pakistan's Help for Talks with Afghan Taliban: United States Envoy

Kabul: United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Thomas West has said that Washington does not need help from Pakistan to facilitate communication with the Afghan Taliban, according to media reports.

West made these remarks in an interview with Voice of America Urdu where he rejected the need for any third party to negotiate with the Taliban government, reported The Express Tribune.

When asked if Pakistan could facilitate talks with the Taliban, West said, "To be honest, I don't think we need a third country to facilitate our engagement with the Taliban."

"I and my other colleagues in the US government are working on it," he said. Additionally, West also rejected the suggestion that the US needed Pakistan's airspace for operational access to Afghanistan.

Speaking further over his three-day stay in Islamabad, West said he discussed "our common interests in Afghanistan with the authorities as an important partner state."

Earlier, West called for a 'serious' national political dialogue in Afghanistan as the people continue to take the strain of Taliban atrocities and human rights violations in the country.

Thomas West underlined, "Without a serious national political dialogue about the future of the country among Afghans who have genuine support in their community, I really do fear.... we could see a return to civil war in time," as he delivered his remarks at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, lambasting Taliban for their cruelty on Afghans, TOLOnews reported.

"We wish to see and to support the emergence of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan that never again harbours terrorists ... in which the rights of all its people, women and men, boys and girls are upheld," the US Special envoy said, reported The Express Tribune.

However, the Deputy spokesman for the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi, said that there is no requirement for national dialogue in Afghanistan.

"There is peace and security in the country. All the challenges that previously existed are currently solved. The time for negotiations was when there was war in the country and there were many sides--there was an invasion--now here is a central government and the people are in a calm situation," TOLOnews reported quoting the deputy spokesman of the Islamic Emirate, Bilal Karimi.

Recently, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a report, outlining the human rights situation in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.

The report summarized UNAMA's findings with regard to the protection of civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests and detentions, the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan, fundamental freedoms and the situation in places of detention, according to Khaama Press.

The Taliban regime in Afghanistan has drawn heavy criticism across the world for a decree banning girls from schools above grade six. The plight of Afghan women has continued to be deplorable in the country. Contrary to the Taliban's claims, girls were stopped from going to school beyond sixth grade on March 23 and a decree against the women's dress code was issued after a month.

There are restrictions on movement, education and freedom of expression of women posing a threat to their survival.

Around 80 per cent of women working in the media have lost their jobs, and almost 18 million women in the country are struggling for health, education and social rights.

Original News: World News | Asian News International

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Scrabbl staff and is published from a syndicated feed)