New Afghan president should seek to continue talks with Taliban - Putin's envoy for Afghanistan
MOSCOW. April 2 (Interfax) - The new president of Afghanistan should seek to continue negotiations with the Taliban, but the chances for maintaining this dialogue will be better if the future president belongs to the Pashtun ethnic group, Russian presidential envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov said.
"I think they all should seek this [negotiate with the Taliban], because the war will continue without national reconciliation, and I mean not the process itself but its result," Kabulov said in an interview with Interfax.
"But one more factor should be taken into account. However you slice it, an overwhelming majority of the Taliban are Pashtun traditionalists. It is perhaps of fundamental importance for them that an ethnic Pashtun should be the new leader of Afghanistan," he said.
Out of the three most likely winners in the elections, i.e. former Foreign Ministers Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmai Rassoul and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, Rassoul and Ahmadzai are Pashtuns, and therefore they would have better chances to continue dialogue with the Taliban, Kabulov said.
"While the Taliban does not recognize the elections, Rassoul and Ahmadzai will be closer to them after all," he said.
Asked what things a new Afghan president should see as priorities, Kabulov replied, "Goal number one for any new leader of Afghanistan should be to continue the policy of stabilization of the domestic military-political situation and launch the economy. Without attaining these two objectives, it would hardly make sense to talk about successfully combating terrorism and drugs," he said.
The Russian diplomat also said he would hope the new Afghan president will continue his predecessor's policy.
"Continuity is essential for any state. There should be no zigzag or flip-flop moves, especially for such a fragile country as Afghanistan. In my view, continuity should be expressed in strengthening cooperation primarily with [Afghanistan's] neighbors, the regional states, which could really help the Afghans to boost the economy," he said.
Presidential elections in Afghanistan are scheduled for April 5.