Afghan political leaders, tribal elders to hold Loya Jirga on Taliban talks

AVA- Umer Daudzai, President Ashraf Ghani’s special peace envoy, said on Monday that the assembly will take place under a large tent in Kabul for four days starting March 17 with more than 2,000 participants, who will be chosen by special committees.
“The main purpose of holding the Loya Jirga is to reach a national consensus for peace in the country.”
Daudzai added that the event would be an opportunity to make clear that the restrictions imposed in the 1990s by the Taliban on women’s rights were injurious to Afghanistan’s broader society. “We will discuss in the Jirga that the gains, particularly the rights of women and freedom of speech, are not up for debate or concession.”
The official, who would lead negotiations with the Taliban, said the momentum for peace was fast building, hoping that direct talks with the militant group could start within two or three months. The Taliban, he suggested, may eventually have to engage with the government in Kabul to address their demands for an exchange of prisoners and removal of international travel bans on senior leaders.
The Loya Jirga is a centuries-old institution used to build consensus among competing tribes, factions and ethnic groups in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, which now reportedly controls nearly half of Afghanistan, has so far refused to hold direct negotiations with the government.
Also on Monday, US special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad met with Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the top political leader of the militant group, in the Qatari capital, Doha. In a posting on Twitter, Khalilzad said the duo had held a "working lunch."
An annual UN report said Sunday that civilian deaths in 2018 jumped by 11 percent from 2017, with 3,804 people killed, including 927 children, both all-time highs since the world body started gathering data in 2009.