April 27 (The Killid Group) — The U.N. special representative Deborah Lyons spoke with the Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, reaffirming the UN’s supports for the intra-Afghan dialogue and forming an “inclusive” government.
The United Nations newly appointed envoy for Afghanistan held discussions with President Ghani over a need for forming an “inclusive” government and reaffirmed its support in all areas—including the start of intra-Afghan negotiations as well as a fight against the coronavirus pandemic in the country, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) tweeted on Sunday.
“In an introductory call, UN envoy @DeborahLyonsUN spoke today with #Afghanistan President @AshrafGhani about the need for an inclusive government, prospects for intra-Afghan negotiations leading to peace, and coordination around COVID-19 – reaffirming UN support in all areas,” UNAMA took to Twitter.
The U.N. envoy spoke with President Ghani amid a war-ravaged Afghanistan is battling against a highly contagious coronavirus, which has raised serious international concerns—including concerns over the possibility of the coronavirus spreading in prisons across the country.
The UN envoy also urged for forming an “inclusive” government amid the Afghan political leaders have remained deadlocked in a turmoil stemmed from September’s presidential elections.
Under a February’s peace deal signed between the United States and the armed group, both relevant sides are committed to work expeditiously to release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, with the coordination and approval of all sides involved in the process.
The agreement calls for the release of up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners who were set to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10, but the process was delayed due to several reasons.
The Taliban, on the other hand, have always accused the Afghan government and the United States of violating the peace agreement, and once again in a statement on Sunday, accused the Afghan government of delaying the process of its prisoners release.
The insurgents reiterated that to initiate the intra-Afghan peace negotiations and to end Afghanistan’s longest running war, practical steps—including the release of its inmates— must be taken.
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