Presidente Abdullah Abdullah endorsed Tuesday the delegation for intra-Afghan peace dialogue announced by Ashraf Ghani aimed to negotiate with the Taliban representatives, noting that the team represents the country�s national interests.

He added in the statement that he gave priority to the peace process, despite the unresolved political crisis following the announcement of the presidential election results.

"My commitment is not to undermine the peace process due to political issues," Abdullah said.

Meanwhile, the European Union in a statement welcomed the consensus among the Afghan leaders over the formation of the negotiation team.

"The EU Delegation in agreement with the EU Heads of Mission based in Kabul welcomes the agreement by political leaders on an inclusive negotiation team. This constitutes an important step towards starting intra-Afghan negotiations and solving the domestic political crisis. We offer our full support to the newly established team. We encourage all political leaders to promote the effective participation of women, youth and victims," said in an EU statement.

The EU also called on the Taliban to show a genuine commitment to peace negotiations and to reduce violence and engage in meaningful discussions on a ceasefire, as per the Doha Agreement.

"This is the time to show a sincere constructive spirit; Peace is about compromises. Now that there is progress on the issue of prisoners and the negotiation team has been chosen consensually, there are no more reasons to postpone the start of the intra-Afghan negotiations," the statement noted.

"The Taliban should respect and work constructively with the team put in place in Kabul as the Government should work with the team of the Taliban despite its lack of inclusivity," the EU emphasized.

The Afghan government announced a 21-member team led by the former intelligence chief Mohammed Masoum Stanekzai to sit in a direct talk with the Taliban.

The Intra-Afghan dialogue was scheduled to start on 10th March; however, it was postponed due to disputes over the prisoner releases.

The Taliban have demanded the release of 5,000 of its prisoners, but the Afghan government said the prisoners would be released only if the militants were guaranteed that they would not return to the battlefields.

The Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, however, said that a 3-member team of the group had arrived Kabul to verify their prisoners and pursue the release process.

LINK: https://www.ansarpress.com/english/15231

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