PESHAWAR:Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Friday urged the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Sami (JUI-S) chief Maulana Samiul Haq to use his influence on the Afghan Taliban to bring them to the negotiating table to end the decades-long bloodshed in Afghanistan.
The Afghan president made the request during a telephonic conversation with the JUI-S chief.Afghan Ambassador Dr Omar Zakhilwal met with the JUI-S chief at his residence in Akora Khattak and arranged for him to talk on the phone with President Ashraf Ghani.
JUI-S provincial chief and spokesperson Maulana Yousaf Shah said the two discussed a range of issue during the talk that lasted for half an hour.
“The Afghan president said that he had deep affection for Maulana Samiul Haq. He told the Maulana that various leaders of Afghan Taliban had studied at the Darul Uloom Haqqania in Akora Khattak and respected and considered Maulana Samiul Haq as their teacher,” Maulana Yousaf Shah said.
He said Ashraf Ghani told Maulana Samiul Haq that he was widely respected in Afghanistan and was popular among the Afghan Taliban.He said Ashraf Ghani urged the Maulana to use his influence over the Taliban and play his role in breaking the deadlock between Taliban and Afghan government to resume dialogue.
“Ashraf Ghani said the Afghan unity government and people of Afghanistan were looking toward the Maulana for restoration of peace and ending the bloodshed in Afghanistan,” recalled Maulana Yousaf Shah.
“Maulana Samiul Haq appreciated the way the Afghan president spoke to him.
The Maulana told the Afghan president that peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan was a must, adding it was the responsibility of the Afghan government to play an active role to bring to an end the Afghan conflict,” he added.
According to Yousaf Shah, Maulana Samiul Haq said it was the shared responsibility of the people, government and Taliban to expel the foreign invaders and end the occupation of their homeland country.
He said Samiul Haq told Ashraf Ghani that Afghanistan would have to stand up to any pressure from external powers, particularly the US to find a peaceful solution to the decades-long conflict.
He said Maulana Samiul Haq suggested certain steps to the Afghan president to take as goodwill gesture to the Taliban to prepare ground for resuming the peace process.According to Yousaf Shah, Maulana Samiul Haq informed the Afghan president of his concern about the increasing hostility between Pakistan and Afghanistan and the warming of relations between Afghanistan and India.
Afghan Ambassador Dr Omar Zakhilwal said that he and Maulana Samiul Haq discussed issues of mutual interest, with special focus on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan.
