Afghan President Ghani urges Taliban to make Quran, Islamic Sharia basis of peace talks

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has stressed that the Quran and Islamic Sharia law should be made the basis of the ongoing peace talks between the government and Taliban. As per reports, Ghani was speaking at a ceremony marking the birthday of Prophet Mohammad on Thursday, October 29 and called on the Taliban to make the Quran and Islamic Sharia law the basis on the ongoing talks.

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Ghani wants the Holy Quran to be the basis of peace talks

During his address, the Afghan President is reported to have said that the Taliban has demanded the release of 40 prisoners from the Afghan government arrested over drug-related activities. Ghani went on to add that while the Afghan government was building mosques in the country, the Taliban were actively destroying mosques and madrassas.

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The ongoing Afghan peace deal was made possible by an earlier deal signed between the US and the Taliban back in February. According to the deal, the US would move its troops out of Afghanistan and the Taliban would enter into prisoner exchanges with the Afghan government and at the end of the prisoners' exchange, both sides would meet for direct talks.

However, the peace talks were delayed as the Afghan government was hesitant to release the last batch of 400 Taliban prisoners who had been arrested for violent crimes. Finally, after multiple rounds of discussions, the prisoner exchanges were concluded and the peace talks finally began in Doha, Qatar on September 12.

At the peace talks, both sides have expressed their desire for a long-lasting ceasefire and an end to Afghanistan’s decades-long conflict. However, there has been an uptick in violence and class between the Taliban and Afghan security forces on the ground since the talks began.

(With ANI inputs, Image AP)

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