The Taliban should appoint their own negotiating team instead of making excuses, a presidential adviser said on Sunday, after the group objected to the team announced by the Afghan government.
Waheed Omer, the president’s adviser on strategic affairs, said that the Afghan government has never said how the Taliban team should be.
He said that the Taliban were deliberately creating hurdles for peace talks.
Afghan government announced a 21-member for talks with the Taliban on Thursday.
The group has, however, said that it will not negotiate with the team as it was not constituted taking into account all parties.
Meanwhile, Bashir Ahmad Tayenj, a spokesman for Junbush-i-Milli political party, criticized the composition of the team saying it was not effective.
Gul Rahman Qazi, former head of Independent Commission for Overseeing the Implementation of the Constitution, said that the team is headed by a person who is untrustworthy.
EU’s special envoy to Afghanistan also reacted to Taliban’s objection to government’s team.
“In war like in peace, you don’t get to choose your opponent. If you want a say in the composition of the other Negotiating Team, fine but then you should accept they have a say in yours too, to check if it is fully representative of your society. Where are the women for example?,” Roland Kobia tweeted.
