In a dramatic somersault on Wednesday, Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced boycott of peace talks in Doha that were slated to begin on Thursday. The Afghan government had announced on Tuesday that members of High Peace Council would participate in the talks. Members of the US delegation had already arrived in Doha and it was just in the nick of time that the whole plan went awry. In turn, the US announced that date for the talks was never finalized.

Karzai office in Kabul has given many excuses for boycotting the talks which include alleged “contradiction between acts and statements of the United States” on peace talks, opening of Taleban office in Doha which is tantamount to a parallel embassy of Taleban and continued presence of a part of foreign forces after 2014.

It appears that Karzai feels that the ground is slipping from under his feet as holding peace talks in Kabul would give him an edge of being a host and elevated position which is not possible in an outside venue.

A member of the High Peace Council observed that until the whole peace process is completely Afghan, they would neither attend nor participate in Doha talks. It will be interesting to see how the whole drama of US-Afghan peace talks unfolds in the coming days. — Shaukat Ali, Dhahran