Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai
Ayaz Gul
VOA News
January 29, 2021
ISLAMABAD – The Taliban on Friday said its February 2020 agreement with the United States is meant to give American “invading” troops a “safe passage” out of Afghanistan, insisting the insurgent group expects President Joe Biden administration’s “review” of the document will not disrupt it.
Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the deputy Taliban peace negotiator, made the statement during an ongoing visit to Moscow, where his delegation is meeting with top Russian officials.
Stanikzai told a news conference that the Taliban signed the pact with a “legal, elected government in America” and the new U.S. administration reviewing it “is their “internal decision.” But it does not mean Washington is abandoning the treaty, he added.
“In the history of Afghanistan, no one ever gave a safe passage to foreign invading troops. So, this is a good chance for the Americans that we are giving them safe passage to go out according to this treaty. We hope that when they are reviewing it they will come to the same positive [conclusion],” Stanikzai stressed.
He also rejected as “completely false” allegations that the Taliban had received bounties from Russia for killing U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
“We do not need anyone to give us reward for the killing of Americans. Americans are the invaders and we are [have been] killing them since 2001,” Stanikzai said and stressed the need for Washington to stick to the mutually agreed troop withdrawal timeline.
VOA has asked the Pentagon for reaction to Stanikzai’s statement.
Stanikzai led the Taliban team in talks with U.S. negotiators that lasted over 18 months and produced the landmark deal between the two adversaries to bring closure to the 19-year-old war in Afghanistan, America’s longest.
U.S. officials acknowledge the insurgents have not attacked American troops since the signing of the pact, which binds the Taliban to halt attacks on foreign forces.
The U.S.-Taliban agreement requires all American and NATO troops to leave the country by May in return for the insurgents’ counterterrorism guarantees and pledges they will negotiate with Afghan rivals a political deal to permanently end two decades of Afghan war.
“If they remain in Afghanistan after this [the agreed deadline] we will also kill them even if somebody reward us or do not reward us. We take our reward from God. We fight the invaders without a reward, without any bounty,” Stanikzai warned.
The U.S.-initiated Feb. 29 accord opened direct talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government in September but the process has progressed slowly with both Afghan foes blaming the other for not being serious in moving the dialogue further.
Kabul has been demanding the Taliban declare a cease-fire for the talks to progress while the insurgents insist a political understanding must lead to its cessation of the conflict.
“Without them [the Taliban] meeting their commitments to renounce terrorism and to stop the violent attacks on the Afghan National Security Forces … it’s very hard to see a specific way forward for the negotiated settlement, but we’re still committed to that,” Pentagon spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Thursday.
But Stanikzai accused Washington of failing to meet their timelines outlined in the deal, such as removal of the names of Taliban leaders from a United Nations blacklist and release of all insurgent prisoners from Afghan jails.
Related
Who
are the real
representatives
of
the
Taliban
of
Afghanistan- if any ?????
*
Please; check
their
true
backgrounds !
*
YOU
MUST
PROVE AND PRESENT ALL
THE FACTS
TO
THE REAL PEOPLE
OF
AFGHANISTAN !
======
=======
=======
====================
*
* Basically; your identity will be considered,
* in comparison
* to
* the members of the religious and resistance movements
* of
* Afghanistan against the Soviet Union.
* .
* .
* They were all home-grown and well-known
* to
* all
* people
* of
* Afghanistan and abroad.
* •••••••••••••••
* •••••••••••••••
* As you all know all of those great local folks sacrificed their lives and basic livelihoods for the country- what I am trying to
* I say that you status eventually will be evaluated, considered and judged under the same exact sets
* of
* categories and criteria by the people
* of
* Afghanistan- otherwise; under imposed and dictates of foreigners,
* =======
* ((including Pakistan and it’s past and present colonial owners))
* ========
* life, again, will go on miserably under
* anarchies and all sorts of calamities across the country just like the present and
* the past..
* ==================••••••••••••••••••••••
* ==================••••••••••••••••••••••
* .
* .
* The
* two major Islamic parties were and till are :
* .
* Jamiat Islami
* and
* Hizb Islami .
* ((including all other smaller Islamic parties))
* .*****************************************************
* .
* Also; the general core movement always consisted
* of
* the religious authorities, Ulamahs
* and
* students from religious school and
* ((Mullahs, Moulawis and Talibs))
* from
* all over
* the Masjids
* in
* villages, towns and cities across Afghanistan.
*