Kabul urges UAE to determine Mutasim’s fate

KABUL leader Mutasim Agha Jan, who has reportedly been put under house arrest in the gulf country.

Mutasim, who held peace talks with Afghan government negotiators last month, has been missing since more than a week in the UAE, confirmed Foreign Ministry spokesman Shakib Mustaghni at his weekly press conference in Kabul.

He said the Afghan government was in contact with senior UAE officials in pursuit of the fate of Mutasim because he had been playing an active role in the peace process.

High Peace Council (HPC) representatives held a meeting with senior Taliban leaders invited by Mutasim in the UAE last month.

A close aide to the former Taliban minister told Pajhwok that Mutasim has been put under house arrest by the authorities in the UAE. He also said there was a possiblity he might be deported to Kabul.

Mutasim had called on the Taliban leadership to enter peace talks with the Kabul administration as did the Pakistani Taliban with their government.

Soon after the meeting, the Taliban’s central committee’s spokesman in Quetta said participants of the Dubai meeting did not represent the movement and their decision was unacceptable.

The HPC recently said a second round of peace talks with former Taliban leaders, headed by Mutasim, would take place soon.

Mustaghni also briefed reporters about the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) between Afghanistan and the US.

He said there had been no hurdle to the pact, except the pre-conditions set by Afghanistan for concluding it.

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